Operation Indianapolis
by LunArchangle
Summary: A November Black operation goes awry as an experimental slip space engine malfunctions in the throes of battle leaving a crew stranded, and the UNSC in shock. A black book organization pulls strings from behind a cloud of assassinations and black ink. An alien juggernaut appears from the heavens over a world already in turmoil. Just how hard are you willing to fight for peace.
1. Request Letter to UNSC Security Council

UNSC Naval Warfare Command Request DNW-01-673382-1

UNSC: Office of Naval Operations:

/FLEETCOM/: Order: 7786/ Request File/

/JUN-12-2533 SOL/

**DOC Classification: NOVEMBER BLACK**

**Attention to Request:**

As requested by Admiral Mitchell, James K. of the UNSC Naval Warfare Command. On JUN-12-2533, UNSC FLEETCOMs 12th Strike Fleet with the cooperation of ONI Section 3 shall begin acquisition of assets for Operation Indianapolis. Acquisition of resources and personnel for this Operation are to be handled with the utmost secrecy and care.

OP CLASSIFICATION: NOVEMBER BLACK

Approval Status by UNSC Security Committee: Pending...

Objective:

The scouting, targeting, and destruction of Covenant (and potential Insurrectionist home worlds). The creation, modification, and armament of one Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser with NOVA Class Weaponry, and full complement of Marine and ODST forces.

Mission:

To utilize the ship for both snatch and grab tactics to acquire high priority Covenant assets, then **-PROGRAM OVERRIDE-** "Blast the fuckers to hell" **\- END**.

Result:

The potential destabilization of Covenant logistics, industry, and leadership.

***NOTE* -ENTRY MADE BY- ADM. Mitchel, James K.**

To the UNSC SecComm,

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And as far as I can tell ladies and gentlemen, this war is pushing us to some desperate times. We have lost countless lives both military and civilian in nature. I understand my request is one that demands resources the UNSC simply cannot afford to throw around. However, I ask that we consider the enemy we all currently face. With your permission, I would like to bring these assets together and utilize them to help our war effort from a different angle. I aim to hit the Covenant at home, and slow their advance. To do that, I can utilize the 12th fleet currently undergoing repair and resupply near Earth. To add to this, I would like to "call dibs" upon the currently under construction UNSC Forever Vigilant. With your approval, I can have this Fleet and the modified Vigilant ready for action by 2535. Following that, targets will include Covenant home worlds and outposts. With my new appointment as head of previously mentioned 12th Fleet, I will begin fleet wide guerrilla tactics drills immediately in preparation. Below is a list of procedures and assets that I ask of you. I respectfully await your response and hope for your approval.

Signed,

ADM Mitchell

Commanding Officer of the 12th Strike Fleet - SOL

Commanding Officer of the UNSC Wayward Son

Requested Assets:

-The placement of the UNSC Forever Vigilant under jurisdiction of the 12th Fleet

-Modification of the ship to:

-House a large complement of UNSC Marine and ODST Forces and the means to quickly deploy and extract them

-Activate and utilize NOVA Class Weaponry either remotely or delivered via warhead

-Utilize the currently experimental Shaw-Fujikawa Mk2 Slip Space Engine for more accurate and quicker in system jumps

-Basic fabrication facilities for parts (vehicle and ship), and HEV pods

-4 NOVA Class Weapons

***Note* -ENTRY MADE BY- ADM. Mitchel, James K.**

To the UNSC SecComm,

There is one more special circumstance I have in mind that I would like to request. But this time it isn't from me. ONI has taken interest in my idea, and I am certain that the council will be hearing from them shortly. But they request that they be the ones to fully select the crew and complimentary units that will be stationed aboard the UNSC Forever Vigilant. Don't ask me why, as I am not a Spook. My word to each of you, have fun dealing with the black ink... I know I have...

Very Respectfully,

ADM Mitchell

Commanding Officer of the 12th Strike Fleet - SOL

Commanding Officer of the UNSC Wayward Son

**-END REQUEST-**


	2. Security Council Response File

UNSC Security Council 382 Response SC-1-827512-1

UNSC: Security Council:

/FLEETCOM/: Order: 7785/ Response File/

/JUN-19-2533 SOL/

**DOC Classification:**** NOVEMBER BLACK**

**Attention to Response:**

ADM. Mitchell,

We of the United Nations Space Command Security Council have reviewed your request sent to us on the 12th of Jun, 2533. And quite naturally, we would deny such a steep and (in my personal opinion) reckless request.

The UNSC needs all of its assets in order to hold onto what little a defensive line we have. When this council read your request, Vice Admiral Charles nearly fell out of his damn chair. Not only do you want to take a ship of the line away from the primary fighting, but you also ask that we remove several NOVA class assets from their existing defensive positions and simply hand them over to you. This is all in hopes that you and your fleet don't just disappear from existence as soon as you hit a Covenant defense fleet.

If this was solely up to the Council, I'd have denied this request the moment it hit our table. But that is not the point of this letter. I'll approve your request Mitch, but only because of the request sent to us by the Spooks in Section 3. God knows that even if myself and the Council don't approve, they'll still find a way to get what they want. There have already been plenty examples of that…

Look, be careful in dealing with Section 3. Last time I saw them this active over a program, the Spartan IIs appeared. We are already investigating them on this, the problem is they know this. Please don't be the next investigation.

As of today, JUN-19-2533 SOL, you are to be granted your requested assets. The UNSC Forever Vigilant, along with the 4 NOVA Class Warheads will be placed under your command. Along with this, we of the UNSC Security Council (begrudgingly) give you full authorization to carry out Operation Indianapolis.

Keep in mind Mitch that we expect results, and I expect your return. You are a good Naval Officer Mitch, the UNSC cannot afford to lose you. The following are conditions we have set in order to allow the approval of such a risky project:

-This Operation will remain under NOVEMBER BLACK status. We cannot let the public know that we are taking such risks in this already bloody war. We are talking about sending an entire fleet into hostile territory on what amounts to a possible suicide run.

-The Security Council FULLY EXPECTS to be kept in the loop about this.

That is all…

I wish you the best Mitch. Don't let us down.

Respectfully,

ADM. Turner, Robert J.

Chairman of the UNSC Security Council

**-END RESPONSE- **


	3. Chapter 1 Progress, Aliens, and Cookies

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – UNSC SOL SECONDARY NAVAL SHIPYARD  
/JUN-19-2533 SOL/ 1150 Universal Time/  
**  
Admiral Mitchell set aside the Security Councils response with a sign of relief. He had a lot riding on the success of Operation Indianapolis. Months of planning and years of fighting a one-sided war against the Covenant had been the fuel he needed to make sure everything fell into place. A small smile crossed his lips as he folded his hands and leaned forward onto the mahogany desk in front of him, his chair creaking from years of use. "You were right about one thing Robert", he said to no one in particular. The only living thing in his office was a parrot that was gifted to him by a delegation from the planet Reach. "One way or another, I am going to see this mission through. I'm grateful for the stamp of approval however". Such thoughts were borderline treason in the UNSC and he was well aware the many risks this mission would entail.

Removing himself from his thoughts, he glanced over to the second letter file sitting on his desk. The cover read '**CLASSIFICATION: NOVEMBER BLACK**' printed top center of the folder. In smaller print, it was addressed to him along with a bunch of other UNSC identification mumbo jumbo that he really didn't care to pay much attention to. Mitchell was glad he had read the Security Councils response before he opened the letter from ONI. He wanted to get their reply, thankfully it had been good news. But deep down, he was simply stalling. To be honest with himself, ONI Section 3 scared the shit out of Mitchell. No one ever knew anything more than what ONI wanted them to, and those who did tended to disappear. He couldn't begin to list the number of investigations that were ongoing or pending approval over some controversial move ONI had allegedly made. Nor could he hope to list the number of those investigations that would fall flat either through some political weaseling or assassination performed by the organization in question. In the UNSC, you couldn't get away with much. That didn't apply to ONI, and even more so to Section 3. That is what scared him and everyone he knew. And as if to rub salt on his embarrassment, it seemed the agents sent by Section 3 knew it too. Mitchell grumbled as he snatched the letter from his desk. If he couldn't rough up those smug agents, he'd rough up the letters they would clandestinely hand him.

Once satisfied with his imaginary strangle session, he opened the letter. As per usual, the document was vague, but direct and to the point. His eyes scanned the letter in question, reading each word as though they had hidden meaning. Oddly enough however, the subject of the document was not as frustrating or stress inducing as those before it had been. Instead of ONI making demands for control over one portion of the Operation or telling him to make a change to another. Mitchell was surprised to see that the letter was a request for him to choose one of three candidates that ONI had narrowed down to be the Commanding Officer of the UNSC Forever Vigilant. He pushed away the memory of how he had originally planned for himself sit in its Captains chair. But once again, in a letter before the one he held in his hands, ONI had made a change to that detail. They had wanted to instill a captain of their choosing, but Mitchell had argued them down to giving him the final decision. Something that Mitchell was pleasantly surprised to see they upheld in the letter he was holding.

To his greater surprise, all 3 of the candidates in this letter were young. Much too young to captain a Marathon-Class cruiser that usually required one to first have held the rank of Commander or Captain in the Navy for several years. These 3 candidates presented before him were each mere Lieutenants! Under normal circumstances, Mitchell would have sent this letter back through the pipeline demanding a correction be made. But that wasn't going to be the case here. ONI knew what they wanted, and in the words of his good friend Robert. They'd get it with or without his approval.

Mitchell sighed in defeat as he read over the Personnel Files. The first candidate was 32 years of age, and boasted a remarkable service record. Mitchell was pleased to see that the young woman was already part of the 12th fleet, currently serving aboard the destroyer the UNSC Midwinter. Upon inspection of the other two files, he noticed that the other candidates were also serving with the 12th fleet. At least ONI was keeping familiar eggs with the same hens. The second candidate was a little more promising to Mitchell. He was 35 years of age and had been in the service a few years more. His commendations record boasted a man of good standing and fair leadership. The third profile was much of the same, with the candidate being about 33 years of age, and a Lieutenant serving aboard the frigate the UNSC Can't Touch This. Mitchells eyes went back and forth over each candidate's profile for a few moments until something on the second profile caught his eye. The name on the profile read, 'Oliver, Daniel M.'. Why did that name ring a bell? Thinking back to notable personnel within his fleet, he began trying to find a reason the name sounded so familiar. It took a few moments of the Admiral blankly staring into space before a squawk from his beloved parrot brought him back to reality. He looked at the brilliantly colored bird as it ruffled its feathers and bobbed its head in his direction. Admiral Mitchell looked at the time on display next to the bird, reading it to be 1145. "It's coming up on lunch time isn't it Jasper"?

The Parrot gave another squawk before replying, "Time for grub".

Admiral Mitchell loved his bird, he was proud of the few phrases it knew to say. He had been gifted it several years ago on a trip to the planet Reach for an annual security conference with the Epsilon Eridani Fleet. Since then, he and the bird have bonded closely. Even his grandchildren cooed over the bird and gorged him with treats whenever they came to visit. Mitchell got up from his chair and began walking towards the Parrot as it continued bobbing its head at him. He had given the bird a good home, and even the unofficial title of Commandant of Aviation (an idea by his grandchildren) at the office he was currently working while his fleet underwent repair. The bird was perched on a faux tree that gave him an eye level view with the Admiral. As the Admiral began petting his bird, he spoke to it. "Why does that name ring a bell Jasper, hmm"? the bird merely soaked up the affection. Then it hit the Admiral, and when it did, he chuckled. "That's right he is the sailor aboard the cruiser the UNSC Hardline that is being put in front of a promotion board next week!" Mitchell quickly turned around and strode to his desk. If he remembered correctly, he should have a Fitness Report on him posted by the ships Commanding Officer. Mitchell sifted through several papers finding little success. Finally, he sighed and pushed a button on his desk phone. It beeped, and his aids voice sounded from the speaker.

"Yes Admiral, how can I help you"?

"John, get me a full-service report on one Lieutenant Oliver, Daniel M. currently serving aboard the UNSC Hardline".

"Very well Sir, anything else"?

"No, that will be all. Thank you". With that, the Admiral took has finger off the button and leaned back to sit on his desk. "You know Jasper, I have a good feeling for once". The parrot simply squawked in reply.

**LOCATION: REMNANT – BEACON ACADEMY  
/JUN-19-2533 SOL/ 1150 Universal Time/  
**  
"Although I am not one to make any kind of ultimatum on whether or not intelligent life outside of Remnant exists! I can say or certain there is no historical evidence regarding any extraterrestrial visitation in any records! ANYWHERE"! Dr. Oobleck stated enthusiastically before taking a sip from his thermos. "Are there any questions my dear pupils"!

Today was an unusual day for Professor Oobleck's history class at Beacon. For one thing, everyone was wide awake. For another, as a reward for good performance on the last test for the previous grading period, the students were allowed to pick a topic they wanted to cover. What had started as a joke when Cardin suggested alien life, turned into genuine curiosity when the nutty professor actually expressed his own interest. Weiss raised her hand.  
"Ah, yes Ms. Schnee! What are your thoughts and or any questions you may have"?

Weiss lowered her hand, the unconvinced look that had taken hold of her face was still present and obvious to all in the room. "If there is no evidence of aliens, then why are we even concerned about their existence? Whether or not they do exist, don't we have bigger issues that plague our planet"? A portion of the class seemed to nod in agreement. But for the Professor, a smile crossed his lips as he pushed his glasses back.

"That's just the trick of this whole issue! We can't either prove nor disprove their existence, so we as society tend to pass off the topic as irrelevant! However, for those of us who remain curious, I would say that the possible existence of a race that is just as, if not more advanced than our own is a mind-blowing idea! Think for a moment Ms. Schnee, what would you do if right now if an alien life form came down to Beacon Academy? What questions would you ask it"?!

"I…uhhh.." Weiss had barely a moment before Oobleck cut her off in his tangent of energy and excitement.

"How about asking it how it powers it's civilization! Or what kinds of fuels it uses for its machines"! Oobleck zipped around the back of his desk and in front of the chalk board before he began furiously drawing what looked to be several dust crystals. "As of right now Ms. Schnee, your family controls the largest reservoirs of dust on the planet". Weiss felt her cheeks flush with mild embarrassment. "Now would you not, as heiress to the largest dust manufacturer in the world, be curious as to how a race can power itself without dust? On top of that, we can also safely say that they likely don't use dust because any and all attempts made by Atlas to send something into space have resulted in the vehicle crashing back down after the dust powered cores failed completely upon hitting the edge of our atmosphere. More importantly, would you not be interested in expanding your market before your competition"?

Weiss had not thought about that, however she still didn't feel convinced. Curiosity proved nothing, but it did make her interested in holding contingency plans IN THE CASE that such an event would happen.

"My point Ms. Weiss, is that although we cannot prove the existence of life outside of Remnant. It is both a luxury and necessity to plan for all outcomes. My final example that I leave with you today students, is this. What would happen if the aliens turned out hostile? How would we react? And vice versa! What if they were friendly? These are all questions that I recommend you consider on your free time however, as there is homework"! The class collectively groaned as the bell rang. "Chapters 14 through 15, and a full report by next class period"!

Team RWBY got up to leave for lunch as Oobleck's history class was the last one of the morning. "I wonder what kind of weapons they have? Do you think they use aura? Do you think they have cookies"? Ruby asked with excitement at the prospect of gun slinging, aura using, cookie eating aliens.

"I don't know, but I kinda want to see how tough they are"! Replied Yang as she cracked her knuckles, grinning widely.

"Please tell me you two aren't actually buying into the whole alien thing right"? Weiss said with a hint of disbelief. "Honestly, there are more important things to worry about than some little green man that may or may not show up. Blake, please tell me you have my back on this…Blake"?

Blake was deep in thought as per usual when Weiss roused her. As she snapped back to reality, she found herself besieged by 3 pairs of questioning eyes. "I, don't really know. I'd like to thing that Humanity and the Faunus aren't the only ones fighting to survive things like the Grim. But then again, who's to say Grim even exist outside of Remnant. We know dust doesn't work when it leaves the planet, so what does that say for everything else? I guess I kind of find it a lot to think about"? And think about it is what she had done since the topic was first brought up. Blake enjoyed playing out scenarios in her mind as it had been something she picked up from years of reading. The idea of extra-terrestrial life actually seemed like a much deeper concept when one actually dove into the intricacies of it. Blake shook her head realizing that she had done it again, she had gotten so lost in thought that when she came back, she had missed most of the conversation.

"Maybe we'll just have to wait and see…" Yang finished just before her stomach rumbled loud enough for the group to hear. It was then that team RWBY realized how hungry they all were. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Let's go see what they have for chow". The rest of the team nodded in agreement as they began making their way to Beacon Academy's prestigious dining hall.


	4. Chapter 2 Do You Like Reuben Sandwiches?

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – UNSC SOL SECONDARY NAVAL SHIPYARD**

**/JUN-19-2533 SOL/ 1330 Universal Time/**

Admiral Mitchell wasn't a fan of the Luna Colony. It was too cramped for his liking. Granted, the bio-domes that housed society provided a rather romantic view of space and the shipyards that surrounded the planet in a large ring. He sat at a little table on the roof of a deli that he had begun frequenting as soon as he discovered their Reuben sandwiches. Because of his daily ritual, along with the presence of the UNSC Shipyards, a small protection detail was stationed there. It was standard protocol that all high-ranking officials of the UNSC have at least a fireteam of Marines nearby at all times. This protocol, however, was becoming slightly lax as most Marines were now being deployed to fight the Covenant. This left his detail without relief, and more often than not he only had two Marines protecting him instead of the usual four. The two mentioned Marines were part of the Lunar defense garrison, one a Corporal, the other a Private. At the moment, each one stood at different positions on the rooftop he was on. The Private was guarding the door, while the Corporal scanned the surrounding area. She was young, almost reminding Mitchell of his daughter. This didn't help matters when he could practically feel the tension radiating from her. "You can relax you know" said the Admiral, "It's hard to enjoy what little break I have when you're standing there like a Covie Jackal."

The Marine Corporal in question turned her attention toward him. "Respectfully Sir, it makes me nervous that you choose to eat on the same roof top daily."

"Would you rather me be cooped up in my office where the light doesn't shine?"

"Respectfully Sir, it would make guarding you a hell of a lot easier, and a lot less stressful."

The Admiral let out an amused grunt. He had to admit, she may be young but she had some balls talking so familiarly with him. He liked that. "I don't think you'd want to get stuck in a room with me. I'm not a fan of sitting in once place for too long."

The Marine stayed silent, merely giving a respectful nod. But the look in her eyes told him that if she could, she'd lock him in the room and stand by the other side of the door. The Admiral continued, genuinely curious. "Where are you from Corporal?"

"The colony on Titan Sir, I was born and raised there."

"I see. Well does the Corporal from Titan have a name?"

"Miranda Sir."

The Admiral sighed, to be honest this was becoming awkward. He chose to sit in silence for a time and sip at the coffee in front of him. Gazing back up at the stars, he began to let his mind wander toward them. He thought of the countless stars and countless systems. Surely not every living thing in this universe was a genocidal freak, right? How nice it would be to discover a friendly species that they could get along with. That led him to his next train of thought, the goal at hand. He needed to make a decision on who captain the Forever Vigilant. His pool to select from was young, albeit of high standing. But still, they lacked the experience of a seasoned officer. And the assignment he was selecting them for was one that placed more than a thousand lives, and a large sum of UNSC resources in their hands. For a young lieutenant, that was a LOT of responsibility. Why was it that ONI Section 3 wanted such young candidates? What was the common denominator that connected them to make ONI interested in selecting those three? He had his aid send him the personnel files of each one, and so far, he couldn't make it out. The only thing he could figure out was which one he was leaning toward. The problem was that now he had to contact ONI. His thoughts were cut short when he recognized the voice of the Private watching the door.

"Sir, I need to see your I.D. before I let you in here".

Admiral Mitchell turned to see a man in a black suit standing before the young Private. After showing him the I.D., the Marine allowed him to pass. A pit formed at the bottom of the Admirals stomach when he recognized the agent from ONI Section 3 that was standing before him.

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – UNSC SOL SECONDARY NAVAL SHIPYARD – ABOARD THE UNSC HARDLINE**

**/JUN-19-2533 SOL/ 1400 Universal Time/**

LT. Oliver was as busy today as he was all days. The 12th Strike Fleet was in full blown repair and refit mode after a previous engagement with a small Covenant logistics group. Both sides had exchanged blows, but eventually the 12th Fleet stood victorious over the numerically smaller enemy. It may have not been a big victory by any means, but at this point humanity needed as many victories as they could get. Thankfully, they had suffered minimal losses due to the planning and strategy of Fleets Admiral, ADM. Mitchell. But now was the time to pull the pieces back together and prepare to fight another day. Oliver was grateful to be aboard a Halcyon Class cruiser. It fared better in a fight than a frigate, and had more space than a destroyer. The only problem was the amount of work it took to keep her running. His rate was that of an Operations Specialist, meaning his place of work was the Combat Information Center. The CIC acted as the ships nerve center, it controlled combat operations, turret guidance, troop deployment, ordinance targeting, the list went on. This also meant that he was constantly checking in with the various combat and technician departments throughout the ship to make sure everything would be ready for their next deployment. To top things off, he was scheduled to meet a promotion board within the coming week. In short, there was too much to do with too little time to do it.

Oliver wasn't alone at least. There were two other lieutenants on board the ship with his rate of Operation Specialist, and normally that was enough to help balance the load while the third could take a short break. But that hadn't been the case this time. After the previous battle, the UNSC Hardline was experiencing system failures beyond belief. To make matters worse for him and his two counterparts, she had been one of the ships to take a couple plasma torpedoes to her hull. These hits had fried electronics in the surrounding areas of each impact and super heated other systems that were closer to the hit. This didn't account for the hull breach that occurred on one deck. Fortunately, these were all minor systems with very few of the failures being anything regarding weapons and none being life support. Thank God for the Halcyon Class was the only though that crossed his mind when he saw the list of things that needed to be done.

At the moment, LT. Oliver was standing behind a Petty Officer who was running him through a small checklist regarding power to the auto loading systems for two of the six M910 Rampart Point Defense guns mounted on the ships starboard side. At the moment, the 50mm auto-cannons worked perfectly fine. The only down side is that 2 of them were having issues reloading after they expended their magazine blocks. This wasn't due to any damage on the turrets part either, and that is what frustrated Oliver. The issue was in the power for the auto-loaders being drawn and directed from a portion of the ship that had taken a hit. This was the flaw of older Halcyon Class Cruisers. Their powered systems were very interconnected, meaning that a direct hit in one area of the ship could lead to troubles anywhere on that segment. Oliver sighed, "So our issue lies with the power draw from C deck?"

"Yes, and we currently have repair teams working on it. They said they had fixed the issue, but the re-loaders are still having trouble responding." The Petty Officer said.

"I'll go make contact and see what's going on. Nothing to worry about, just keep running tests and let me know if anything else comes up."

"Aye Sir."

Oliver made his way out of the CIC and towards his destination of C deck. The trip was not a straight shot to say the least. The passageways were bustling with activity. Technicians, crew, and inspectors were moving throughout the ship to perform the tasks that needed to be done to get the ship back into fighting condition. Military personnel saluted and allowed him to pass as he approached while the civilian inspectors just kept about their business. 'Another day in the fleet' Oliver thought to himself as he came to a ladder. Just as he was about to make his way up to the next deck, a voice stopped him.

"Lieutenant Oliver?"

Oliver turned around to see who had said his name, and immediately spotted the source. It was a smartly dressed man of around middle age. His hair was shaved off completely and he wore a pair of modest glasses. He was paler than most people, signaling that the man probably didn't get much sunlight in his work. But those weren't the only features that made the man stick out from everyone around him. Oliver spotted the badge the man was casually holding for him to see. It bore the two-faced pyramid with the acronym ONI. Oliver stopped dead in his tracks. What did ONI want with him? Had he done something wrong without realizing it? He had never had any interaction with the organization, but he did hear plenty of stories. The part the worried him however was that many of those stories depicted a mysterious black project organization with nearly limitless resources and the ability to make you disappear. To be honest, he had imagined their agents to wear the stereotypical black suits and shades. To be stoic and tough individuals with classified backstories and hardened appearances. But before him stood this rather small individual in a tan coat and… were those slippers? This man looked nothing like he imagined an ONI agent to look. Then why did he find it just as intimidating?

"That is me?" Oliver's reply came out hesitant.

The ONI agent grinned at Oliver. "Ah good. I've been instructed to have you come with me. We need to have a talk. But first, tell me. Do you like Reuben sandwiches"?

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – UNSC SOL SECONDARY NAVAL SHIPYARD**

**/JUN-19-2533 SOL/ 1345 Universal Time/**

Admiral Mitchell studied the agent standing before him. He "knew" this agent all to well. The man before him had been his line of connection between his Operation and ONI Section 3. The agent was easily in his late thirties with brown hair that was well kept. The man wore his suit well, and had shined shoes. He wore a data pad on his left arm and although he was young when compared to the Admiral, seemed to carry himself with the experience of twice his age. The Admiral decided to break the silence. "What do I owe the pleasure of having Section 3 at my lunch table?"

The agent looked at him indifferently before pulling a chair out from the table to sit. "I'm here to help move things along for the Operation. I need your answer so that I can inform my superiors."

"I know why you're here… I was only hoping that I would be able to finish lunch in peace before you came." The truth was that Mitchell had finished lunch about 30 minutes ago. That much was obvious by the fact that coffee was the only thing sitting on the Admirals table, and for him it was cup number 3. "Lets just get one thing straight with your superiors, this is MY Operation. As for my decision, I had a few questions before I tell you."

The agent showed no reaction. "ONI isn't saying this isn't your Op. We are merely here to make sure YOUR Op succeeds. Don't forget the reaction in the Security Council's response letter."

"That was a private message." The Admiral deadpanned. He knew full well that ONI had likely seen the letter, but it still annoyed him that the agent had the nerve to openly admit their doing so.

The agent once again showed little reaction before continuing. "What questions did you have?"

Mitchell stared at the agent in calm frustration for a few moments before starting. "Why are the candidates you gave me so young? ONI could have chosen experienced senior naval officers, men familiar with running such a ship. And last I checked, there are a number of perfectly suitable candidates with more experience than three lieutenants." There was a moment of silence between the two. He stared down the agent while the agent stared right back. After a brief moment of studying one another, the agent spoke.

"All I can tell you is that a younger officer is a lot less set in their ways than a seasoned Captain."

"So, you want control?"

"We need adaptability."

"For what? These kinds of operations are nothing new. This one is only a combination of existing maneuvers."

"I can't say anything more. If you have a problem with that, you can talk to my superiors directly."

"Bullshit, I don't even know your name let alone enough to make direct contact with any kind of superior office. You're all ghosts. You show up, make demands, take control over the Op…"

"And get it approved for you to conduct in the first place." The agent finished for the Admiral. It was clear that it was his turn to become frustrated. "Now Admiral, have you selected your candidate?"

"I'm certain you already know who I've picked. Only one of the candidates you handed me has any kind of experience on a cruiser of any kind. Picking any of the others would have required retraining them. That is something we don't have time for…"

The agent gave the Admiral a coy smile, "It's nice to have options isn't it."

The Admiral grumbled, turning his head to look away from the conversation and took a long sip of his coffee. He set the cup back on the table and watched the shipyards that ringed the planet. He then turned his attention to the land-side docking station a few miles out. He could see craft of various sizes and roles taking off and landing. Most carried cargo to repair his damaged fleet. 'This whole situation is bullshit' thought Mitchell to himself. "So, what now?" Said the Admiral as he turned back to the conversation.

"We wait here. I have an agent grabbing him for us as we speak." It was the agents turn to sip his coffee.


	5. Chapter 3 Lunchin and Punchin

**LOCATION: REMNANT – BEACON ACADEMY – ****GRAND DINING HALL **

**/JUN-19th-2533 SOL/ 1320 Universal Time/**

Team RWBY had made it to the grand dining hall just before they stopped serving lunch thanks to a few detours they took to meet up with their friends in team JNPR. The walk had been less than eventful aside from Nora's constant and excited tangents. They were all happy when they finally arrived, and surprised to see that they weren't the only ones catching the late call for food. The dining hall was absolutely packed with their fellow students, most of whom being first years like themselves. The two teams parted ways temporarily to go and grab food, only to find that there was nowhere for their teams to sit together. As a result, they ended up sitting across from each other at two parallel tables. After a few minutes however, the teams between them got up and left leaving Nora to begin launching grapes into Yang's mouth in a little game.

Things were going peacefully until Ruby, team RWBYs leader, hefted a large white binder labeled 'BEST DAY EVER ACTIVITES' in bright red. Scratched out above the newly added label was the binders original label, 'Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee'. Ruby's sudden and loud appearance followed by the clearing of her throat captured the attention of her team instantly. "Sisters, friends.. Weiss", she started.

"Hey" came the reply of a slightly off put Weiss. But she was given no time for words as Ruby continued to speak.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream".

"This oughta be good" said Yang nodding to Blake before turning back to her dear sister and catching another flying grape in her mouth.

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together as a team and have the most fun anyone has ever had. Ever!" Ruby stated enthusiastically.

Weiss took a closer look at the binder suddenly recognizing the print on her lost property. "Did you steal my binder?"

"I am not a crook" Ruby replied as she bent over to look at Weiss, giving two victory signs with her fingers.

Blakes curiosity was piqued by Ruby's excitement, too much so to be concerned with Weiss's newly formed dilemma. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby seemed encouraged by Blakes question as she turned to point at her dramatically. "I'm talking about kicking the semester off with a bang!"

Yang looked back at the rest of the group sitting beside her, "I always kick my semesters with a Yang"! Yang looked between Ruby and the rest of her team, "eh, guys? Am I right?" Her efforts were rewarded with an apple that hit her square in the nose. The rest of the team shook their heads at her pun.

"Booooooooo" came the voice of Nora in response. Yang growled at her.

Ruby continued her speech, "Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year. Our second semester is going to be great! So, I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us."

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store" Weiss stated matter-of-factly. As she said this, Yang returned fire at Nora with a green apple of her own.

Blake looked at Weiss as she spoke, "I don't know, I think I may sit this one out." Blake wasn't really in the mood to be going out.

"Sit out or not, I think however we spend today, we should do it as a team". Weiss said giving Ruby a small nod of acknowledgement. Weiss began to stand, not realizing Yang seemed to be frantically waving in warning to team JNPRs table. Nor did seem to notice as Nora let out a loud "I got it!"

Weiss continued talking as she stood, "I for one think that…" Her speech was cut short as a stray pie meant for Yang had flown completely off course and was speeding straight for Weiss's head. The pie smacked her head on in the face coating her completely. Weiss's arms dropped to her sides in defeat while the rest of team RWBY looked towards the assaulting pies origins. Team JNPR sat there with their heads in their hands as Nora pointed to Ren, trying to pin the blame on him. It was then, the chaos ensued. The rest of the students had seen the deed, and those wanting no involvement began clearing out of the hall. Those who remained were soon sorry that they did. Weiss wiped the pie cream from her face, a glare in her eyes. But it wasn't one of anger as everyone had expected. Weiss grabbed another students abandoned pie, and returned fire. Both teams scattered to either side of the hall, someone screamed food fight, and the battle began.

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – O'Malley's Caffe**

**/JUN-19th-2533 SOL/ 1450 Universal Time/**

Admiral Mitchell and the ONI agent didn't have to wait long for the agent's partner to arrive with the young Lieutenant Oliver. For much of the time they had waited however, silence ruled the air between the two. He didn't want to talk to the spook anymore than he had to. Upon their arrival, the two showed their I.D.s to the Private guarding the door before approaching closer. In that time, Mitchell studied the Lieutenant with an eagle eye. The kid definitely looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was well groomed, and was still in his Naval Work Uniform (NWU's). The LT had blue eyes that shown with the curiosity of a younger officer but were also made tempered and weary from years of war. His skin was lightly tanned, and he had neatly kept brown hair. He seemed to walk with confidence, and the Admiral had to admit that he liked that. LT Oliver and the second ONI agent, an odd one at that, stopped in front of their table. The LT stood at attention and rendered ADM Mitchell a salute to which he quickly returned without standing. "LT Oliver" the Admiral started, "I'm glad you could join us for lunch. Or at least what was lunch. Take a seat, order something. It seems we have a bit to discuss."

"Thank you, Sir" Oliver replied before pulling a chair from the table and sitting. The ONI agent that had brought him there did the same, nodding to his partner and receiving a nod in return. Oliver quickly ordered a sandwich, going for a Reuben since the agent that picked him up seemed to recommend it when they first met. Once he was done, he pushed the menu display back into its original spot. He wasn't exactly certain how to go about this situation. The man that sat before him, coffee in hand was none other than Admiral James Mitchell. He was not only the Commanding Officer of the 12th Strike Fleet, but also a highly decorated officer with years of dedication towards his service with the UNSC. Oliver had only seen pictures of the man in the quarters of his ships Commanding Officer, or caught glimpses at a distance during a routine visit. The Admiral was as awe inspiring to the young LT in real life as the man was in his mind. He wore his Naval Service Uniform (NSU's), and had greying hair with a clean-shaven face. He sat in his chair casually, seeming rather comfortable with the situation they were all in. This was more than he could say for himself. The Admiral had a medium sized build, but he seemed to fill out his uniform nicely even for a man of his age. And that was a detail he could only guess. Oliver ballparked it at around late fifties to early sixties. But what really made Oliver nervous was that it seemed the Admiral was studying him, judging his every move and even peering into his very soul. Oliver had half the mind to confess every wrong he had committed in his life. But he held his tongue, waiting to be addressed before speaking.

The Admiral continued to watch him for a few moments more before he spoke. "Do you know why you've been brought here Lieutenant?"

"No Sir" Oliver was quick with his reply.

"Relax son, you aren't in trouble." The Admiral let out a sigh. "We brought you here today…" The Admiral was interrupted with the arrival of Oliver's and his ONI escorts sandwiches. The waitress quickly departed with a few kind words. Then the Admiral continued, "We brought you here because we have an assignment for you. And before you say anything, I want you to hold questions until the end." The Admiral pulled out a small data pad from his chest pocket and passed it to Oliver. "You have been selected to take a command of your own in preparation for an Operation that the 12th Fleet will be conducting two years from now. The reason you've been selected is because you are an exceptional Lieutenant in my fleet, have a good standing record, as well as combat and operational experience with Cruisers."

"Sir, I.."

The Admiral raised his hand to silence to the LT, "Wait to the end". The Admiral looked over at the ONI agent in the black suit, who gave a small nod. Meanwhile, the other agent was stuffing his face with his own Reuben sandwich he had ordered. The Admiral continued with a sigh, "On that data pad is everything you'll need to know. You are to have everything on that pad memorized within the week. You will then return it to me. The pad is bio-metrically locked, meaning once you set the lock you will be the only one able to open it. Any questions about that?"

Oliver shook his head as he turned his attention to the data pad he had been given. The UNSC logo was gently gliding across the screen, bouncing off the edges and changing directions.

"Good" said the Admiral, happy that detail had been made clear. He gave the two marines guarding the roof a nod before they made their leave from the balcony and out of earshot. They stopped just outside the door however, so that they could still react quickly should something happen. "Now for us to move on with matters. The Operation in question has been designated Operation Indianapolis."

Immediately that didn't reassure the young LT, he remembered from history lessons that a ship by a similar name suffered a nasty fate while on a clandestine mission. And from the air of the situation around him, the people present, and the data pad in his hands this whole thing reeked of Top Secrecy. Apparently, the Admiral took notice of Oliver's sudden tension.

"I thought I told you to relax. Anyway, the Op consists of some pretty daring hit and run tactics that will target Covenant home worlds and outposts. You'll be given command of a heavily modified Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser named the UNSC Forever Vigilant, and you will act as the hammer that hit's the nails in their coffin."

The more Oliver heard, the less of a fan he was becoming of this whole Operation. A command of his own was already a huge responsibility. But being the center piece of an entire Operation? It made no sense that they would choose him over a Commander, or a Captain, or anyone more experienced for that matter. He was just an Operations Specialist assigned to an older Halcyon Cruiser, a LT just now going up to his promotion board for the rank of Lieutenant Commander. This plan seemed risky as it stood, but to put him at the helm of it all? His thoughts were cut short as the Admiral continued.

"On to your ship. As you may have garnered from what I just said, the UNSC Forever Vigilant is a heavily modified Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser currently undergoing construction here at the Luna Shipyards. She will be ready to fight within two years, but her first sea trial will occur in about a year or so. The specifications are on your data pad if you'd now open it to section 3.2. I'll let you read things over before we continue."

LT. Oliver did just that. He unlocked the screen on the pad and was immediately faced with a user warning. Tapping the 'Confirm' button, it led him to an index of different files relating to Operation Indianapolis. From a mission brief, to ship and weapons schematics, everything was in his hands. He selected the file labeled 3.2, and a 3D representation of a Marathon-Class Cruiser appeared on screen. Details about the ship appeared every time he tapped a part of it. The UNSC Forever Vigilant was one hell of a ship to say the least. To boot, she was being manufactured in near zero gravity making mass a much more minor concern. This allowed the shipyard to armor the ship with a solid 200 centimeters of Titanium-A battle plating as appose to the standard 191 centimeters for ships of its class. The ships missile launching platform had also been modified. Instead of the standard 75 Archer pods, each pod containing 24 missiles. This ship had 90 pods with each containing 20 missiles. This allowed for a more conservative fighting stile as the total number of 1800 total missiles had remained unchanged. Another slight upgrade was the ships M910 point defense system. The standard for most Marathon-Class Heavy Cruisers was six of the 50mm auto-cannons spread across the ship equally. This was used to protect the ship from oncoming missiles and small craft. The UNSC Forever Vigilant however, sported 8 of the turrets as well as an additional four M870 Rampart point defense guns that specialized in fending off small craft and plasma torpedoes that were commonly used by Covenant warships. The 5 fusion engine rockets remained the same as part of the standard. But what made Oliver's mouth open in surprise was the payload of four NOVA Class super weapons that were to be installed in addition. These weapons were planet crackers to say the least. From what Oliver knew of them, they consisted of four fusion based warheads per weapon. The explosion from one of these bombs could vaporize a fleet, crack a small planet, and permanently alter if not completely destroy the atmosphere of a large one. 'Holy shit' was the only thought that crossed his mind.

Oliver didn't know what else to think as he finished tapping and scrolling over the different features this new ship would have. It would be about twenty meters longer and ten meters wider than its sister ships. It maintained the Marathon standard of two Mark IX heavy coil Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. And the ship was being fitted to house a force of about seven hundred Marines and two hundred ODSTs, along with a compliment of ground armor and small craft. The hangars would be home to about fifteen D77-TC Pelican Gunships, and twenty-four GA-TL1 Longsword Strike Fighters. Besides that, the engines were standard with the only eye catcher being the Series V CODEN MKII, the experimental variant of the MKI Shaw-Fujikawa Trans Light Engine. Once the LT was done looking at the data pad, he put it in his own chest pocket.

"Do you have any questions" the Admiral asked, looking at him questioningly?

"Respectfully Sir, this is insane. Even if I did take command of this ship, I would still just be a Lieutenant."

"I understand that, which is why you will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander exactly one year from now, just in time for your ship to begin sea trials. That way you will get the practice you need, and the experience to lead your sailors into battle. Upon completion of that, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to the rank of Commander. But in the meantime, you will be spending time with myself as my aid and unofficial executive officer aboard my ship so that you may learn the proper skills that you need within the year".

Oliver didn't know what to say. He was being promoted to the rank of Commander, and practically skimming over the rank of Lieutenant Commander. On top of that, he was about to be the Fleet Admirals right hand for the next year. The pressure couldn't get any higher for the young LT.

The tension was broken when a ringtone came from the ONI agent in the tan coat and slippers. The man in question let out a small burp, which he stifled with his hand and reached into his jacket to pull out a phone. When he answered, the conversation was short and one sided as all the man had said was a series of "yeps and Uhuhs". Once that was over, he hung up and put the phone away. "We need to wrap this up. Lieutenant, I'll take you back." He looked at his partner, "You can finish up here."

His partner in black acknowledged him with a nod of his head. "See you at the rendezvous."

The agent in tan got up from his chair, to which the Lieutenant did the same. Numerous questions still plagued Oliver's mind. 'Why was ONI so involved? Why do we have to end now? He still wanted to know why they chose him.' But it looks like he'd have to wait for answers. With a quick salute to the Admiral, Oliver reluctantly turned and followed the agent to the door.

Once the door closed behind the LT and his escort, the Admiral looked over at the ONI agent that remained. The man had started cleaning up his coffee cup so that he could leave without a trace. "Are you sure he will be ready?", the Admiral asked the agent. At the moment, he wasn't very hopeful of putting the fate of the entire Operation on the shoulders of a rising LT.

"He will be. Besides, you're a good officer. I'm sure he will learn well from you, and by the time the Operation starts he will be ready." The ONI agent threw away his trash after giving it a quick spray of a substance that quickly decomposed traces of biological evidence. They had to be ghosts after all. "See you in a year Admiral Mitchell". With that, the ONI agent made his leave and slipped out the door. The Admiral had finally been left to his thoughts in peace. A peace that was quickly disturbed moments later by the entrance of his two Marine detail. The Admiral let out a huff of annoyance. He needed to get back to work anyway.


	6. ONI Mission Prop: Operation Gladiator

ONI: Section 3:

/INTCOM/: Order: 17-001/ Mission Statement/

/OCT-01-2533 SOL/

**DOC Classification:**** NOVEMBER BLACK**

**Identifier:**** Operation Indianapolis**

**Mission:**** Acquisition of resources, designate Gladiator**

**Brief:**

Operation Indianapolis is in dire need for a smash and grab element to compliment their current assets. There are multiple UNSC Marine Regiments in the area stationed as defense garrisons around the SOL system. Regions to choose from have been labeled bellow by the planet/moon name followed by number of stationed regiments:

Earth: **Information Redacted**

Luna: **Information Redacted**

Mars: **Information Redacted**

**Objective:**

The unit that will be brought on board to Op. Indianapolis shall be selected via tournament style war games. For the first tier of eliminations, each Marine regiment will conduct war games versing the other regiments stationed on their designated planet. The winning regiment of each planet/moon will then select a champion unit to perform a rescue Op while taking on the champions of the other regiments. Last unit standing, shall be the one selected to participate in Operation Indianapolis.

**Confidentiality Plan:**

Initial war games conducted on each planet/moon shall be held under the guise of training exercises between stationed units. Units will be rewarded appropriately with bragging rights and increased off time so as to keep the image of a friendly exercise between fellow Marine units.

Upon completion of initial exercise's, the Commanding Officers of each unit will be contacted about hostile Insurrectionist activity in the form of a hostage situation on the moon colony of Titan. Each Commanding Officer will be asked to select a team of ODST's to infiltrate and secure the Hostage. Additional information will be provided that the Insurrectionist forces in the area are disguised as UNSC units. The ensuing "Rescue" operation will be designated: Operation Fallen Eagle.

Measures will be taken to ensure that the selected units will have no way to identify the identity of opposing teams as UNSC. All Friend or Foe tags will be set to malfunction and all identifiers changed prior to mission start. To add to this, one of the three teams will be deployed early to secure the area so that the incoming teams will see them as a defensive force. Objective is set to make it look like the following teams are Insurrectionist reinforcements to one another. Non-standard weapons will be assigned to the first team.

This mission will be covered up with the defeat of two of the teams, and a no mercy order will be given. The winning team will be granted their victory and the names of those fallen set in the records as either heroes to the UNSC.

Commanding Officers of the two losing regiments will face reassignment to out of system posts or "Heroic Retirement".

Any and all assets to Sub Op. Gladiator shall be wiped from record upon mission complete.

Successful Regiment will then be asked to participate in Operation Indianapolis due to their excellent performance in the involvement with Operation Fallen Eagle.

No record of Op. Gladiator shall be kept in ONI record.

**Comments:**

You know my opinion on this Operation Indianapolis. Make sure this goes without a hitch. I expect a status report along with a casualty list upon mission complete. We are putting a lot of risk into this. Let's not screw this up. Humanity, our very species, is relying upon us to do this right. Let's reign in these assets. Good luck.

**-End Mission Statement-**


	7. Chapter 4 Nightmares and Questions

**LOCATION: REMNANT – SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE VALE –**

**/OCT-11-2533 SOL/ 2320 Universal Time/**

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Ruby screamed in horror and despair as the last of the ashes that had once been her good friend were whisked away by the wind. Pyrrha's Amazonian crown clattered to the floor, rolling to the feet of her killer. Ruby fell to her knees as she bore witness to the scene as she had countless times again and again. She should have been faster! Maybe if she had been a second or two quicker in her assent up Beacons tower, she could have done something, anything to intervene. Tears streamed down her face as her head hung in defeat. Pyrrha's crown was now in her hands, only for it to turn to dust in her grasp. Just one more thing she couldn't hold on to. She looked up from the ashes as they fell from her hands only to find that she was no longer in the shattered remains of Ozpins former office. She now found herself in the burning ruins of Beacon Academy's courtyard. But something was different than she remembered. The grounds of the courtyard were black and molten, all of the academy was less than rubble. Fires burned with an intensity that made her skin burn with screaming pain, even at a distance. Everything around her was slag, and the sky was black with smoke. She could not make out the sun, nor see it's light. The only thing lighting the world around her were the burning fires and molten ground. But what horrified Ruby more so, were the bodies that were strewn about in the areas that weren't covered in melted stone. Atlassian soldiers lie about, dismembered and disfigured nearly beyond recognition. Their faces frozen in absolute agony and terror. Some lie torn in half or missing limbs, while others slumped to the floor long dead. Parts of their armor melted into their flesh. Other bodies had large spikes piercing into there chests and limbs that nailed them against the remnants of Beacons once great walls. But Atlassian soldiers weren't the only ones to suffer these fates. Atlassian Paladins lie in melted and shattered heaps, White Fang grunts lie in piles of twisted corpses, and Beacon Academy students, many of whom were unrecognizable suffered much the same fate. Ruby didn't know what to think of the vision before her. Her friends, the people she studied and fought along side were nothing more than ash. Ruby snapped out of her daze when she heard a familiar voice.

"R…Ru…Ruby…"

Ruby searched for the source of the voice, a glimmer of hope in this realm of desolation. Her frantic searching was rewarded when she spotted Jaune among a mound of charred rubble. She dashed over to him, falling to her knees next to his prone form. "Jaune! Jaune, are you ok!?"

"Her…"

Ruby didn't pay much mind to what he was about to say as she looked over his body. To say he was hurt was beyond an understatement. His legs were near gone, nothing more than seared bone and muscle. His armor had done little to protect him as a hole had been melted straight through into his chest, the area surrounding had been melted and burned into what had been his skin. How he was alive Ruby couldn't explain, all she knew is she couldn't fail again. She had to save him.

"Heri…"

"What is it Jaune, save your breath!" Ruby said but she listened in panicked concern as her friend continued.

"Heretics...We… We are all heretics." Upon his saying that, the screaming started. The pained and twisted corpses all split the air in agonizing screams. All Ruby could do was cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut.

"Heretics. We are all Heretics. And for that, we shall burn." They all screamed.

Ruby woke from her nightmare screaming and crying.

"Ruby?! Ruby what's wrong?!" Tai Yang ran into her bedroom to check on his younger daughter. Her older sister Yang followed closely behind, checking the room for intruders before focusing her attentions to her younger sister. "Ruby?" Tai grasped her shoulders to steady her and bring her to reality.

"Everything was burning, they were all dead, Pyrrha, Jaune, everyone!" Ruby sobbed. "There was nothing I could do!"

"Ruby, it's okay." Tai pulled Ruby into a hug in attempts to comfort his daughter. "You are safe, and so are a lot of people. Jaune is still alive, you just saw him a few days ago. Shhh."

Ruby latched on to her father with all her might. She was tired of these nightmares, she experienced them almost nightly. But this one had been the worst one yet. She couldn't even begin to fathom the reason behind why this one was so bad. What had Jaune meant by 'We are all Heretics'? She was scared, and confused. Her screams had quieted to muffled sobs into her father's shoulder.

Tai just sat there, stroking his daughters back. He had noticed the difference in Ruby's reaction to her nightmares tonight. She had seemed more terrified than the nights before. "It's okay Ruby, I'm here. You're at home, Yang is here too."

Ruby mumbled something unintelligible between sobs.

"Hmm?"

Ruby pulled away slightly so that she could be heard. "He said we were Heretics, and that we would burn for it. I don't even know what it means, how are we heretics? Why did they have to burn for it? This didn't even have to do with Beacon, none of it makes sense!"

"Shhh, don't think about it too much." Tai replied, pulling Ruby back into his embrace. He shot Yang a worried look, and from the look she fired back he knew they were thinking the same thing. They were concerned for how deeply the fall of Beacon had affected Ruby. And tonight's nightmare was a plain example of why they were concerned. No one had come from that dreadful day unscarred. A fourth of the worlds communications had gone down, the Atlassian military had been bested from the inside, a feat previously thought impossible, and countless people lost their lives as a result. To top things off, the grim were infesting the region and much of the region was still suffering as a result. The local authorities were barely holding the line and plenty of refugees were swelling the local hospitals and inns with their casualties. To make matters worse, relations between the Kingdoms now seemed at an all-time low. Tai Yang was worried about a lot of things, but at the moment his focus was his daughter. "Try to go back to sleep, I'll sit with you tonight until you do. There is nothing to worry about, your friends are safe and so are you. You didn't fail anyone."

"O... Okay…" Was all Ruby replied with as she laid back down and tried to fall into what she hoped would be a peaceful sleep.

Once Ruby had fallen asleep, Tai stood up and motioned for Yang to follow him out of the room. They quietly went moved out and closed the door behind them.

"I'm worried about her." Yang started.

"I'm worried about both of you. You've each been struggling in your own ways trying to cope with what happened." Tai replied evenly.

"What happened… we lost Beacon, we lost friends, I lost my arm!" Yang replied slightly irritated.

"I know, but right now we need to be there for each other more than ever. I know the both of you have been through a lot, but we need to push through this together. I'm here for you, and so is Ruby. But we definitely need to be there for her.

"I know." Yang sighed. I'll talk to her in the morning.

Tai gave a slight smile, "I'm glad. Now let's get some rest for tomorrow."

With that, they parted ways to their individual rooms.

**LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN**

**/OCT-13-2533 SOL/ 2320 Universal Time/**

A lone D77-TC Pelican Dropship screamed through the skies of Titan as it moved for its destination. It flew alone, its target being a Hydrocarbon Refinement Facility located 110 kilometers from the nearest colony on the moon. It carried a deadly payload comprised of ten ODST troopers from the garrison located on Earth, each prepared to give hell to any unfortunate soul who would dare stand in their path.

Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Bowman sat in the main hold of the pelican, something he and his fellow Marines fondly dubbed the "Blood Bay". Like the rest of his team, he was double checking and triple checking all of his equipment. The rifle he was checking over for the third time that flight was a BR55. His weapon of choice was a capable one, utilizing the M634 High Powered Semi-Armor Piercing round. With it, he could reach out and touch anything within a nine-hundred-meter radius if given the proper conditions. But he wouldn't need to do that for this mission. No, this mission would be much closer and much more personal than that. He began going over everything he and his team had been briefed on in his head since before embarking on the Pelican. As he did so, he switched to his M6D sidearm, something that had been with him since graduation from his ODST training.

Bowman knew this mission had a high risk. He along with his team had been hand selected and briefed directly by the Commanding Officer of his regiment. Along with that, intelligence had suggested that the insurrectionist forces who were holding the UNSC official hostage were in fact disguised as UNSC forces. The up side to this however, is that intelligence had also suggested that the current enemy forces were made up of a small group of specialists. Patrick could only guess that these forces were probably made up of elite units that had acted as the initial snatch and grab force, and had yet to link up with their primary unit. What that meant for he and his team was that they wouldn't be completely out classed numerically. Combine that with the fact that his team held the element of surprise, the odds were looking pretty good for a swift and aggressive takeover of the facility. So long as they could move quickly and take out the opposing force before they could realize exactly what was happening, Patrick was confident they could win this. However, some things didn't exactly add up. How had insurrectionist forces gotten their hands on enough fully operational UNSC Battle Dress Uniforms to disguise such a force? This pointed to a much larger threat. A traitor in the ranks perhaps? That question was above his pay grade, and right now his focus was keeping his team alive. The thought of his team provoked him to look up from his trusty sidearm and check on them.

His eyes first fell on Corporal Velda Erika, a good Marine of high standing and renown dedication to the corps. She was his fireteams medic. She never spoke much, but Bowman had served with her since the beginning of the war and could safely say that he was happy that if something happened to him, he could trust her to be there. He couldn't see behind her blackened visor, but he knew her piecing blue gaze was watching over everyone around her.

Next to the Corporal sat Sergeant Al Donald, he was the fire-team's lead expert in Close Quarters Battle (CQB). He was a seasoned soldier, formerly an Army transfer before joining the ODSTs. Al was a good man, tough as nails and with a good heart. Patrick watched him as he helped the team's newest addition who sat to his right. The Rookie was Corporal Jack Goodman, a greenhorn to the ODST corps who just finished his training. He was the team's new rifleman and had proven to be skilled on the range. Bowman was curious how he would perform in the field. Finally, his gaze turned to his right hand, Staff Sergeant Denzil Martha. She, like Corporal Erika had been fighting by his side since the beginning. Together, between the Insurrection and the start of the Human-Covenant War, they had seen everything. No one could come close to describing the brutalities encountered on both fronts. Especially those committed by the Covenant. Bowman was happy when the three of them had been given transfer orders to one of the defense garrisons stationed on Earth. But now it was time to get back in the action. And to be honest, Bowman was grateful he wouldn't be immediately thrust back into fighting the alien juggernaut. No, he was glad to have received this assignment, and even happier to hear that they would be facing the traitors of the Insurrection. His thoughts were interrupted by his helmet comms buzzing to life.

"Heads up Gladiator, entry point ETA is 5 mikes out. Be ready to go, landing zone is said to be cold but intel isn't always spot on." The pilot informed the ten ODSTs.

Bowman activated his mouth piece, "Copy. Everyone, check each other over. I want a perimeter established as soon as we have boots on the ground. Staff Sergeant Kirk, I want you to take your team and swing a wide left flank. We will be approaching the facility by foot, so let's move swift and let's move silent. We have the element of surprise on this one, and brass is saying they want no witnesses. In other words, time to stomp on some throats."

There was a small cheer and a couple of "Hell Yeahs" from his ODSTs. All of whom began finalizing their equipment checks and moving to check the equipment of the fellow soldier to their left.

**LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN – 6 KILOMETERS SOUTH FROM THE HYDROCARBON FACILITY -**

**/OCT-13-2533 SOL/ 2330 Universal Time/**

No time was wasted as the pelican came to a hover less than a meter above the ground, its loading ramp lowered to allow the ODSTs to disembark onto the drop point. As soon as the last trooper put boots on the ground, the pelican took off into the night. Gunnery Sergeant Bowman looked about his surroundings, his team had set a wide perimeter around the area as instructed and were currently holding position. He spoke through his helmet comms, "Alright, Staff Sergeant Kirk, take your team and go northwest. That will put you on the facility's left flank."

A green light blinked on his Heads-Up Display indicating that his order had been acknowledged. Five of his ten ODSTs split off from the group and began making their way northwest in a wedge formation.

Bowman then addressed his own fireteam, "Lets make our move directly north of here. We have a small walk ahead of us. I want a wedge formation, five-meter spread."

Four green flashes of acknowledgement told him his team understood. With that, they began to make their way to the facility.

**LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN – HYDROCARBON FACILITY -**

**/OCT-14-2533 SOL/ 0122 Universal Time/**

The gunfire had started when the team was still a kilometer from their target. This was something that had taken both fire-teams by surprise. 'Who could be attacking the facility before them?' Bowman thought to himself. He had ordered his team to approach with extreme caution, as they were now thrust into unknown territory. As far as he knew, they were supposed to be alone in this Op. Did the UNSC send another unit along with them? Were some locals attacking the facility under their own authority to try and expel the insurrectionists? These were all questions Gunnery Sergeant Bowman wanted answered. And now that they were about to have a visual on the facility, he hoped the answers would be waiting just beyond the ridge. He turned his attentions back to the situation at hand when Corporal Erika opened comms.

"Hey Gunny, I have eyes on the facility. And you aren't gonna like this."

"What do you see?" Bowman replied moving to crouch beside the Corporal, who replied by pinging a way-point towards the Hydro-Carbon Facility's courtyard. She had been right about what she said, he did not like what he saw.

The courtyard was littered with multiple dead. Each body was wearing the signature BDUs of the ODSTs. He did not like this situation at all. From here there was no way of telling whether these were the bodies of fellow ODSTs, or those of Insurrectionists disguised as them. Either way, they needed to confirm and secure their target. Hopefully in doing so, they could identify the bodies. There was at least one thing for certain. They had found the source of the previous gunfire.

Bowman spoke into the team's full comms channel, "All units, take up positions to begin the raid. Staff Sergeant Kirk, position your machine gunners on overwatch and have your men ready to flank them. As for my team, we will approach directly and create a breach in the enemy wire. Move on my signal."

Nine green flashes soon followed as each trooper got into position. Bowman and Kirk were the only ones in the group to have both teams fully visible on their HUDs. Each ODST was marked with a small way-point that identified them. He could see Kirk and his ODSTs about one hundred meters to his forward left. They were exactly where he needed them.

The facility itself look exactly as it had in the brief. It wasn't a primary refinery, according to the information packet he had been given, so it was much smaller than average. Apparently, it was owned and operated by the Whear-Tech Corporation, it's purpose being to refine the moons abundant source of Hydrocarbons found in the environment so that the resource may be used for industrial purposes, primarily fuel. However, at the moment, it was serving as the temporary holding point for insurrectionist operatives.

The issue at hand was that the courtyard was still a good fifty meters across before it reached the front entrance. On top of that, the courtyard was fenced in by a standard chain-link fence topped with razor wire. The facility had multiple windows overlooking the primary method of approach making the courtyard a prime kill zone. This was something that the team before them must have not taken into account judging by the bodies scattered about. Another piece of information that the bodies in the courtyard provided to Gunnery Sergeant Bowman was that the Innies had overwatch to the main avenue of approach. Trying to rush the fence line was not going to work. Bowman hopped back on his comms, "Staff Sergeant, can you see into any of those windows overlooking the courtyard?"

It took a moment for Bowman to get his response. "Negative… If they are in there, they are hiding well. I'm not seeing any activity near the windows."

"Very well, keep your marksman on lookout and have the SAW ready to give cover to our approach."

"Roger."

Bowman sighed in slight irritation. He would have rather they could see at least one of the enemies before approaching the facility. It would give his team something to target, and even help draw out the enemy from hiding. But now he had to trust that they hadn't missed anything in their scan, and move in blind. The only thing he and his team had going for them was the Staff Sergeant Kirks Marksman and SAW gunner providing overwatch for their advance. The SAW would be particularly useful in this situation as it provided a large volume of fire to suppress an enemy combatant. It was the UNSC's favored squad based light machine gun, and capable of shredding varied levels of cover and light armor. Bowman took comfort that an ODST was watching his back with one. He looked to his team who had taken up positions beside him along the ridge. "Alright, lets get started. Al, Rookie, you're our forward team. Push to the enemy wire and take positions along the fence. Try and stick to cover. Martha, you're with me, we are going to push as soon as they reach the half way point. Erika, you follow suit."

Green lights of acknowledgement flashed on Bowman's HUD. Bowman pushed his comms, "Kirk, we are moving in. Maintain overwatch, and upon our entry, secure us a landing zone for extraction. If we get engaged during our approach, light them up. Bowman out." A single green light flashed on Bowman's HUD. It was go time. "Begin the assault!"

With the order given, Al and Goodman stood and dashed for the enemy wire.

No gunfire followed their movement, so far so good. Martha gave Bowman a glance as they prepared to make their beeline for the fence. "Maybe they killed each other and we'll finally get an easy mission?"

"Let's not jinx ourselves on this. Come on." Bowman said as he and Martha picked up their weapons and began sprinting for the fence. It was about ten seconds of running before they caught up with Al and Goodman who had both set up positions behind two concrete foundations that served as the base for a stilted container containing some sort of liquid. Looking back, Bowman could see Erika was already well on her way to their position before a sudden crack split the calm atmosphere. A round pierced through Erika's visor killing her instantly and sending her body crashing to the ground. There was less than a second of silence that felt like an eternity to Bowman before the sound of their overwatch opening fire towards the building shattered it.

"Hostiles spotted in the second-floor window! Looks like a lone individual!" Staff Sergeant Kirk's voice came over the comms. Moments passed before the individual was riddled with bullets from both the SAW and the Marksman from Kirk's team.

"Get out of the open! To the building!" Bowman shouted over the gunfire as he and his team returned fire.

"Breach in the wire complete!" Al shouted as he put away his wire cutters. His task of cutting a hole in the fence complete.

"Push to the front of the building, we need to get in there! Kirk, you've got our backs!" Bowman said. Bowman and his team then charged through the breach and towards the entrance of the building. All the while, the SAW was maintaining a volume of fire towards the windows, and the Marksman looking for any movement. As his team got close, Bowman gave the signal for the SAW to shift fire to prevent any friendly fire. Three green flashes signaled the gunners compliance. Bowman and his team quickly stacked along the double door with Bowman taking up the rear.

Al scanned the door with his tactical pad to check for any explosive traps that could have been set, giving the signal when he saw it was all clear. With that, the entire team gave the signal and Al blew the door hinges off with two blasts of his shotgun. Goodman was the first into the breach, his MA5B raised and ready to waste anyone in his path. He crossed right while Martha went left. Bowman and Al followed suit and the team began going room to room.

Surprisingly, there was not much resistance at first. That was until they came upon a hall, only for an attacker dressed in ODST BDUs jumped Martha from around the corner. They grappled brutally, the attacker going for pressure points. The grappling was stopped however when Goodman drew his knife and plunged it into the distracted assailant's neck turning angry shouts into choked gurgles. He tore the now dying enemy off of Martha before putting two rounds through the man's visor. "Thanks." Said Martha as she got back on her feet.

Their small moment was quickly split however when several rounds flew about their heads causing the team to take cover and return fire. This was not a good situation, they were caught in a hallway with the enemy boring down on them. Rounds tore away at the cinder block walls of the facility as both teams traded fire. Finally, Al pulled the pin on a grenade before tossing it down the hall towards the enemy. "Take that ya bastards!"

The grenade detonated and there was a scream of agony from one of the enemies. The gunfire ceased for a moment giving Gladiator an upper hand in the fighting. Al and Goodman immediately surged forward to take advantage of the break. They had narrowed down the enemy fire to the room on the left side of the hallway. To solve the problem, Goodman primed a flash-bang and sent it into the room. It detonated blinding the rooms occupants, and both Al and Goodman pushed in. Bowman and Martha followed closely behind, to quickly see the fighting before them. Al unloaded two rounds from his shotgun point blank into the chest plate of one enemy. The slugs destroying the ceramic-titanium plating and tearing straight into the man's chest. The insurrectionists partner was faster than his fallen friend however, his helmet visor protecting his vision from the worst of the flash. He slammed the butt of his rifle into Goodman's shoulder, a missed attempt for his neck. But this was enough to temporarily cause the rookie to recoil, something the Innie took advantage of. The Innie continued his assault to finish Goodman only for Bowman to put him down with a three-round burst from his battle rifle. "You good Rookie?"

"Yeah, Gunny. I'm good, fucking bastard got the drop on me."

"Alright, glad to hear it. Room clear, let's move."

With that, Gladiator continued their assault. They exited the room and made for a staircase at the end of the hall. "Al, you take point." Bowman ordered.

"You got it boss"

Just as they began making their way up the staircase, a blast came from the top of the stairs. A clay-more device had been set at the top of the stairs. Its detonation caused thousands of small metal pellets to explode out towards the team at high velocities. Many of these pellets pinged off of the ceramic-titanium armor worn by Gladiator. Unfortunately for Al who took the brunt of the blast, any gaps between his armor plating were quickly rewarded with piercing pieces of metal. Al began screaming in agony as he collapsed on the stairs.

"Shit! Al is down!" Shouted Martha who had been spared the blast as Al had been in front of her smaller form. She grabbed the screaming man by the collar and began dragging him down the stairs so she could give him basic aid. With Erika gone, the team didn't have any serious help available.

Bowman and Goodman pushed up the stairs only to encounter more of the enemy waiting at the top. "Shit!" Bowman said as they ducked away from the barrage of fire. He touched the comm pad on his helmet, "Kirk, we need immediate assistance! We have one trooper dead and another well on his way to joining the first."

Kirk's response came in a moment later. Gunfire clearly heard on Kirk's side of the comms. "We are having a bit of an issue ourselves! Some of the enemy wasn't even in the compound! They were waiting for us to attack, then swooped in to hit us from behind! I've already lost two of my team!"

"Kirk, fall back into the facility and call for immediate air support if you can!"

"Negative, they have us pinned down. We can't move and air is saying nothing is available at the moment!"

"Shit, do what you can to hang in there. We are pushing on the second floor. If we can get to those windows, we can give you fire support!"

"Gotcha! We'll hang tight and fight them off. Kirk out!"

With that, Bowman continued the fight.

Martha was doing everything she could to stop the bleeding. This wasn't her first time dealing with a combat injury. Except Al was bleeding from everywhere! What worried her was the blood flowing from his neck and groin regions. The arteries there had been damaged by the pellets, and if the bleeding wasn't stopped Al would be a goner. Martha tried not to think of what had just happened to Erika, and she did all she could to stop Al from joining her. But her efforts were in vain. A bloodied hand grasped her arm as she tried to apply dressing to Als wounds. "Martha, it's okay. Save it. Go fight for the team and keep THEM alive."

"Shut up you dumb ass!" Martha replied harshly. But her words had fallen upon deaf ears. Als grip loosened from her arm and his arm fell to the floor. Al died on the spot. "GOD DAMNIT!" shouted Martha. She looked at Als body in frustration, then at her teammates currently fighting those fucking Insurrectionists. They were going to die today. She was going to make sure of that. Martha picked up her rifle and got back into the action.

Goodman was getting tired of fighting an uphill battle. He primed another flash-bang and tossed it at the enemy. "Give me covering fire, I'm pushing!"

"God speed Greenhorn!" Was all Bowman could say before the flash-bang detonated. Bowman laid down suppressing fire while Goodman pressed up the stairs and into the enemy line. Bowman quickly got up to follow, not wanting the rookie to be surrounded.

The battle was bloody at the top of the stairs. Two enemies had taken position and were quite surprised when a lone ODST charged them in their daze. Goodman delivered a jab to the throat to the first enemy causing him to real back choking. The second enemy tried to grab Goodman, only to be tackled by the lone ODST. Bowman made it to the top of the stairs and immediately engaged the second enemy with his knife drawn.

Goodman worked fast on his victim, who wrestled him on the ground. Both had knives drawn and were fighting for dominance. Something Goodman quickly won when he drove his knee up between the Innies legs. This gave him just enough leverage to drive his knife into the enemy's lower rib cage. He followed the stab with a cross to the face before withdrawing the knife and plunging it into the Insurrectionists neck.

Bowman who meanwhile was fighting his enemy standing, tried for a quick jab with his knife into the enemy's neck. The Innie quickly countered by blocking and grabbing Bowman's arm, getting inside his defense and using his body to throw Bowman over his shoulder and onto the ground. The Insurrectionist was now on top of Bowman, who was fighting for his life. This didn't last long however as Martha shot the Innie in the side of the head from the entrance to the stairs. "Thanks, guess I owe you a drink." Bowman said as he got up. "Where's Al?"

"He didn't make it." Martha stated. We need to end this before we lose any more people.

"Agreed. Staff Sergeant Kirk and his team were engaged outside. We need to get to the second story windows and give him assistance."

The team moved further down the hall encountering little resistance. After a short distance, they came to a set of double doors. "Alright, stack up." Ordered Bowman.

The team did so swiftly before giving the signal to breach. Bowman opened the door slightly and tossed in a flash-bang of his own. It went off after a moment and the team pushed through the door. Bowman was immediately greeted by a round into his right shoulder plate before he and his team lit up the single Innie standing behind a desk. The Insurrectionist slumped to the floor dead. "Clear!" Bowman sounded off.

"Clear!" Both Martha and Goodman repeated.

They were in a small conference room that had a long meeting table and chairs surrounding it. At the end of the table sat a lone man who was unarmed. He was dressed in a tan trench coat and wore circular glasses. He looked to be middle ages and was completely shaved. Bowman took notice that he matched the description of their missing UNSC Official.

"Mr. Linch?" Bowman questioned.

"That would be me trooper." The man replied.

"I'm going to need you to answer a couple of confirmation questions for me to make sure you are who you say you are."

"Shoot."

"What's your mother's maiden name?"

"Jane."

"What was the name of your second pet?"

"Lance."

"Where were you born?"

"Tell me, do you like Rueben Sandwiches?" The man answered with a small grin.

"Thank you, Mr. Linch." Bowman tapped his comms. "Package is confirmed and secure. Staff Sergeant, what is your status?"

Silence ruled the communications channel.

"Kirk? Come in."

Again, nothing.

"Shit, Martha get me eyes on the outside to the building. But do so carefully."

"Will do." Martha replied before going down the hall to check out the windows. Meanwhile Goodman turned to watch the staircase.

Bowman turned his comms to signal their extraction, "Overlord, this is Gladiator. Package has been confirmed and secured. Requesting immediate extraction. Be advised, we have multiple casualties and potential hostiles around the AO."

Bowman felt a wave of relief when he heard the reply, "Gladiator, this is Overlord. We are in bound to your location. ETA five mikes. However, be advised that scans are showing no sign of hostile or friendly movement within your AO."

Bowman felt a pit form in his gut. Something that only got worse when Martha called him over. "Watch Mr. Linch, Rook." Bowman told Goodman as he walked out of the room and over to where Martha had taken position. "What is it?" He asked.

"Look for yourself Gunny." Martha said, her voice drained of emotion.

Bowman peered out the window only to see something that confirmed the gut feeling he had. Outside lay the bodies of Kirk and his team. Along with them, were the scattered bodies of the Insurrectionists that had ambushed them. Staff Sergeant Kirk and his men had fought to a bloody last stand. "That explains the scans." Bowman sullenly stated. He gave Martha a tap on the shoulder. Keep watch, we have evac in bound about five mikes out."

"Gotcha, I'll keep watch. Oh, and hey, what do you think about all of this? None of this makes sense to me."

"How do you mean?" Bowman questioned.

"We are fighting Innies wearing our gear? We are rescuing a UNSC official from said Innies within the Sol system? Without support beyond what we were sent in with? Doesn't this whole thing seem odd to you?"

The tone in Martha's voice backed his feelings of confusion that had followed him throughout this mission. This whole thing didn't feel right to him, and Bowman wanted answers. More importantly, he wanted to know who Mr. Linch was. That seemed like a good start. "I don't like it any more than you do. But right now, let's just wrap this up. We can ask the big questions later." With that, Bowman made his way back to the conference room.

Upon his arrival, Mr. Linch had not moved an inch. Bowman was starting to get that gut feeling again. He couldn't tell why, but he knew he didn't like something about this man.

"Mr. Linch, if you'd please come with us, we can get you out of here." Bowman said.

Mr. Linch stood and began making his way over. "Thank you Mr…?"

"Call me Gunny."

"I see, well thank you Gunny." With that, the four of them made their way out of the building. As they waited for transport, they kept Mr. Linch inside the compound under guard. Meanwhile, Bowman went out to gather up his dead brothers and sisters in arms. The more he thought about it, the less he liked this whole mission. It almost made him sick. He had lost too many good troopers to this raid, and there were to many questionable factors involved. Who was this Mr. Linch and why was he so important? He didn't seem all that significant of a person to be a high-ranking official in the UNSC. Then again, Bowman had been surprised before. He didn't like any of this at all, and he wanted answers. Why did he have to lose seven troopers in one raid to rescue this mystery of a man? His thoughts were interrupted by the whine of an incoming D77-TC Pelican Dropship as it approached to extract his team. 'Looks like questions are going to have to wait for now.' Bowman thought to himself as he and what remained of his team secured Mr. Linch on board and quickly began loading the bodies. As soon as they had finished, the pelican closed the cargo hold and took of for the skies of Titan.


	8. Chapter 5 Meetings, Gifts, Difficulties

**LOCATION: REMNANT – SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE VALE – **

**/OCT-12-2533 SOL/ 0738 Universal Time/**

Morning came slowly for Yang. She had wished sleep would ease her troubled mind. Instead, she laid in her bed, barely able to sleep due to the persistent thoughts of the fall of Beacon Academy. Her take away from that night being the loss of her right arm, and the feeling of abandonment from Blakes retreat to only the Twins knows where. How could she just run away like that? How could she leave when the team was at it's weakest? To top things off, Weiss had gone back to Atlas at the request of her father, leaving team RWBY split in three.

Yang sighed in frustration as she grabbed a pillow with her left arm and planted it over her own face. She was not the type of person to let things bother her, but things had changed since that night. What was the point of it all?

Yang had imagined herself graduating Beacon as a renown Huntress. Known to others for her beauty and badassery. But now, there was no Beacon, there was no graduation, and her unbeatable record had been cut through. How could they be expected to protect the world, when an entire Academy full of the world's greatest warriors was destroyed in a single night? Worst of all, they were supposed to be the hope of humanity! But how could they give hope when their first real test in their lives as huntresses left the members of her team scattered. Yang felt abandoned, and her morale, her pride… both were severely damaged.

At least she had Ruby.

A bit of hope dwelled within Yang at the thought. It wasn't bright, but it smoldered in her chest like hot coals. At least she had her younger sister, and right now Ruby needed her. She was supposed to be the big sister after all.

With that thought, Yang took the pillow off of her face and slung it down next to her side. It was time to get up and go check on her sister. Once she was back on her feet, Yang looked out her bedroom window.

Snow had started to fall a couple days back, gently blanketing the world around her home. It was beautiful to say the least, and it gave Yang reason to allow a small smile. The smile quickly disappeared when the thought of Weiss crept into her head, a thought Yang quickly pushed away. She couldn't afford to get stuck thinking about her team right now, her sister needed her.

With that, Yang stripped herself of her pajamas and put on her day clothes, and walked out of the room towards the one Ruby was staying in. As she approached, she heard a soft thump come from the room. 'Sounds like she's up' Yang thought to herself.

What greeted Yang as she made it to the threshold of Ruby's' door, was the sight of her sister packing her field bag with clothes and other small essentials. Ruby was currently struggling to squeeze some spare clothes into the bag with slight difficulty. Judging from the sleeping mat that was tightly rolled up next to the bag and the numerous loaded magazines for her weapon, Ruby wasn't packing for a simple hike. She was planning on leaving. Yang felt several emotions well up inside her head, making her heart ache. Confusion, anger, sadness, and worry were the first to hit her. But she did her best to remain composed. "You plan on going somewhere?"

Ruby immediately snapped her head up from her struggle to look at Yang in surprise. Her clothes popping out of her bag. "Ahh! Yang! Ummm, I uhh…"

"Where are you going?" Yang tried the question again, giving her dork of a sister a chance to compose herself and answer.

"Jaune, Nora, Ren and I are going to Mistral to see if we can find out anything about the people who attacked us." Ruby replied as she began the process of stuffing her pack over again. "The others are already here, and I don't want to sit and wait any longer."

"Ruby."

"We should make it there after a couple of weeks of walking."

"Ruby!" Yang raised her voice slightly to catch her sister's attention.

"Yes Yang?"

"Are you sure you're ready to go out? You've been having nightmares almost every night since we got here. You barely get any sleep! And to top it off, are you really ready to be going after the people who did this to us?" Yang didn't realize it, but she was quickly losing her calm. This whole ordeal combined with the lack of sleep seeping in through the cracks of her composure. Yang caught herself. She was scared, the fear of losing her sister and even more of her friends was plain as day. She herself, the indominable Yang Xiao Long, or at least she had thought was now timid in the face of danger. That fear only aggravated her frustration and anger towards herself.

"I don't know. I don't know what to say or what to think right now. And I don't know how ready we will be when we get there. But we have to go. We have to find the people responsible before more people get hurt." Ruby's confidence slowly grew as she spoke. To tell the truth, she was still forming the plan in her head. What she had said was true. She didn't know if or when they would be ready. She didn't know how long it would take or how to accomplish her goal. But at least she had a place to start, and some friends to go with. To Ruby, this was a matter of protecting the people she swore to protect the moment she wanted to become a Huntress. And even if she didn't have the answers, she'd find them. She had to.

Yang sighed. She was too defeated to argue, with her sister of all people. But deep down, she knew Ruby was right. But there was nothing Yang could do. Her right arm was gone, and so were many of her friends. She felt helpless. "Do what you want Ruby." With that, Yang turned and walked out of the room. Her interest in checking on her sister lost.

Ruby watched Yang leave the room in concern. She worried for her sister. But more so she worried for others. The fall of Beacon had hit her hard, but she didn't want others to face the same fate. Her dream came to mind, the horrors she saw within it far surpassed what happened. But it confused her more than anything and drove her to want to prevent another attack. But what did the dream even mean? Heretics? None of it made sense.

Ruby quickly finished packing before clipping the straps on her pack and putting it on. She grabbed Crescent Rose from atop her desk and quickly made for the door, looking back at the letter she had left on the desk for her father who was out for the day.

Making her way into the kitchen where the front door was, Ruby felt determination rise within herself. They were doing the right thing, and she wasn't going to stop for anything. She tried with difficulty to push her thoughts of her sister out of her mind and focused on their task at hand. Once in the kitchen, she saw Ren and Nora conversing near the door. Something they put on pause upon seeing Ruby. Jaune was leaning on the table in the center of the room. He had been waiting for her to get ready and stood straight as Ruby entered.

"You ready to go?" Jaune asked Ruby. It was good to see her again, he and what remained of team JNPR had been staying in a nearby town off the island that Ruby and her family lived on. Only arriving early that morning so they could leave for Mistral together.

"Yeah." Ruby replied. "We need to find the people responsible for Beacon and stop them before they can do any more damage."

"We're with you Ruby." Jaune reassured her with a smile.

"Yang isn't coming?" Ren noticed, taking a slight step forward. He was obviously concerned for his friend.

"No, she is staying behind to help dad and recover."

Ren only hummed in response. Nora quickly bounced up behind him.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Nora turned and swung open the door quickly, wanting to begin their long journey ahead.

With that, Ruby and her new-found team began their long and arduous journey to Haven Academy in Mistral. Unbeknownst to them, a crow following their group at a distance.

**LOCATION: UNSC COLONY ON LUNA – UNSC SOL SECONDARY NAVAL SHIPYARD**

**/OCT-25th-2533 SOL/ 1346 Universal Time/**

Lieutenant Oliver of the 12th Strike Fleet sat near the head of a long conference table located in the meeting room of the Secondary Naval Shipyard Facility on the Luna Colony. A lot had happened to the LT since his meeting on the top of the diner 4 months ago. Admiral Mitchell had taken him under his wing as an aid and right hand. LT Oliver held all the responsibilities of being the Executive Officer of the Admirals Flagship the UNSC Wayward Son but received next to none of it's perks. The Admiral gave him the freedoms he required, but for the most part held Oliver on a tight leash. He was there to learn, that was that.

Sitting at the head of the table and to his right was the Admiral himself. The man sat semi relaxed and leaning back as he scanned over a document pertaining to the status of the 12th fleet. His chin in one hand and the document in the other.

To the right of the Admiral sat the true Executive Officer of the UNSC Wayward Son. Commander Grace, Jackline was a woman of middle age. Her black hair was put up into a neat bun and her dress uniform pressed nicely for parade. She was the shining example of a naval officer. Something Oliver had come to expect when working with officers working directly under Admiral Mitchell.

Admiral Mitchell had taught the Lieutenant many things in the span of 4 months. One such thing was being constantly aware of the condition of the ships under his command. In fact, LT Oliver had been the one to type up the document the ADM was now reading. What made the LT slightly nervous was the fact that he new the Admiral wasn't just looking at the information the LT had put in front of him, he was also scrutinizing it for errors. Another lesson Oliver had learned from the Admiral was that mistakes were harshly punished, while doing the right thing was expected as part of the job. Which is why Oliver allowed himself a small bit of pride when the Admiral closed the report and praised him. "Good work Lieutenant. I expected nothing less." ADM Mitchell placed the report on the desk in front of him.

"I have a good teacher Sir." Oliver replied nodding towards Commander Grace. The Commander gave a small smile in response.

"Lieutenant, you should know by now being a brown nose doesn't get you anywhere on my ship." The Admiral warned jokingly.

They were interrupted when the main doors to the conference room opened to allow a group of new comers in. As expected for this meeting, they were all officers save for three individuals, a Sergeants Major, Oliver's ONI handler, and a civilian.

The first officer to enter was a Marine Colonel who Oliver knew to be Col. McDaniels, Arthur D. He was the commanding officer for the UNSC 24th Marine Regiment currently stationed on Mars. He wore his dress uniform along with his sidearm. To say the man was decorated was an understatement, and the war they were currently fighting did wonders to thicken his personnel file. From what he read, Oliver took the Col. to be similar to Admiral Mitchell. Both were experienced officers, and both had records for running a tight organization.

The officer following the Col. was a Lieutenant Colonel by the name of Kenneths, Martin. LT. Oliver knew him as the Commanding Officer of the ODST battalion attached to the 24th Regiment. He answered to ONI and to Col. McDaniels, that was all. The man had black ink on almost every paper in his file. But Oliver knew he was a reputable man and a renown officer. This meeting was certainly going to be one for his books, having these two at the table. 'Oh, the stories I would tell back home if this weren't classified.' Oliver thought to himself.

The Sergeants Major was the Regimental Sergeants Major of the 24th Regiment, SgtMaj Jackson. He acted as the bridge between the Officers and the Enlisted personnel within the 24th. His years of experience and expertise were invaluable to the operation at hand. Especially since the coming mission would require the best they could find.

The civilian was the Director of Operations for the UNSCs Secondary Lunar Shipyard. He would be the man doing the most talking today. Finally, there was LT. Olivers ONI handler. And as per usual, the man took to wearing his casual brown coat and black slippers. Oliver had learned a little about his handler as they interacted. The man had been around the block and serving with Section III for quite some time. He never specified how long, just said it was a while. One thing he had made clear to Oliver and the Admiral however is that he valued his comfort over most things. That didn't mean he wouldn't get his hands dirty or avoid hardship, it just meant that no matter how formal the occasion, his slippers and coat were his dress of choice. In the agent's words, he simply hated uniforms. They stood out, and they were uncomfortable.

As the door closed behind the group and everyone began taking their seats, the meeting could finally begin.

Admiral Mitchell was the first to speak, "Good afternoon everyone. I trust your trip here was a smooth one?"

Everyone gave nods of agreement as the Admiral continued.

"Good, I'd also like to remind everyone that everything said in this meeting today is considered highly classified. Code November Black. So, everything we say and do here today stays in this room." Once the Admiral saw that there were no objections he smiled and pressed a small button on the tables control consol.

The lights in the room dimmed slightly and a projection hologram appeared floating in the center of the table catching everyone's attention. The image of a Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser rotated slowly for all to see.

"I brought you all here today because each of you will be playing a major role in a coming operation designated Operation Indianapolis. It will involve my 12th Strike Fleet and your 24th Marine Regiment." Admiral Mitchell directed the last part towards the three senior Marines in the room.

"I'd also like the three of you to meet our ONI representative for this Op." Admiral Mitchell directed the groups attention to Oliver's handler, who was currently leaning back completely relaxed. A quirky smile was planted upon his face as he gave a nonchalant wave to everyone in the room.

"Finally, we have our host here." The Admiral gestured towards the civilian in the suit. "Mr. Rogers is the current Director of Operations here at this facility. He will be giving us a status brief on the operational capacity of our newest ship. I wanted everyone to be present for this as we will all want to be well versed. We cannot afford any mistakes. Does anyone have any questions?"

Col. McDaniels lifted his hand off the table in order to get the attention of the room. "Yes, I do. In the briefing packet you sent out, you mentioned our objective for this Operation and what our tasks would be aboard the ship. However, you didn't give very many specifics. Can you clarify? I'd also like to ask how long we are expecting this deployment to be?"

Admiral Mitchell nodded to the Col. "There is no specified length of time that we will be deployed. The matter of the fact is we are going to be out there for as long as we need to be. And as for your general mission, I apologize the packet wasn't very informative. You and your Marines have been made the ground strike force for our mission. The ODSTs especially will be running smash and grab Ops with every Covenant target we hit. As for the rest of your Regiment, they're job is to act as a kind of small and temporary occupational force should the need arise. We aren't entirely sure what we are going to find, so we want to be ready."

Oliver could tell that the Admirals answer seemed to satisfy the Marine Colonel…mostly. "Are there any other questions?"

The room remained silent. "Very well, Mr. Rogers you have the floor.

Mr. Rogers rose from his chair, "Thank you Admiral. Now if everyone could direct their attention to the hologram we have before us. This is the 12th Strike Fleets newest addition, the UNSC Forever Vigilant, and from what I understand will be a new home for many of you here." The man looked at Admiral Mitchell, "And I'm proud to announce that we are ahead of schedule."

"Ahead of schedule? This is good to hear!" Admiral Mitchell said with a pleased tone.

"Well, ONI did give us some help. And I must say that she is one of the finest warships we have built." Mr. Rogers said. "Now, I understand that you're intending to use this ship for prolonged Ops cut off from UNSC supply lines. So, we upgraded from the standard on board fabrication facilities. Now, you should have the capability to fabricate almost every part you may need to keep the ship running. This includes everything from engine parts, to armor plating, and even the kitchen sink. Granted, you can't fabricate parts without material. So we also had to install basic foundries and other refinement facilities so that you can take raw material and make it usable. To accompany this, we have given you a squadron of harvesting drones whose sole purpose is to gather the needed material."

LtCol. Kenneths chimed in immediately. "Aren't we supposed to be a hit and run force? Where are we going to find the time to gather resources and use these drones without putting our fleet at risk?"

Mr. Rogers smiled. "Good question. You won't be deploying these near Covenant home worlds. The purpose is for your fleet to be able to stop within or near most asteroids and use the drones to harvest what they can find from there."

It was Admiral Mitchells turn to pitch in. "So not only could we temporarily hide the fleet, but we can use what little time we have to keep ourselves afloat and lick our wounds. Smart thinking."

"Thank you, Admiral." Mr. Rogers went on to press a small button on his side of the table. The result was the hologram magnifying the lower decks of the ships hull. "As you can see, we made several modifications to the Marathons original HEV launching system as well. We decided to make it more compact in order to help make additional room for previously mentioned facilities. As a result, there are fewer launching ports than the standard. The upgrade, however, is the increased rate at which pods can be prepped and launched. The result balances out for a standard launch rate but allows you to house the facilities needed to produce additional pods and repair those you recover. Further details are included in your data pads."

Mr. Rogers hit another button to bring the focus towards the bow of the ship. "This one applies more towards the Navy side of the house, but I'm sure the Marines will appreciate it as well. Admiral, I understand the initial schematics planned for the UNSC Forever Vigilant to house two of the standard Mark IX heavy coil Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. However, we managed a small breakthrough in energy management and output due to her new engines. Your MACs are the same, but they should have a higher rate of fire. Just try not to melt the coils."

Commander Grace looked to the Admiral with a shrug. "I can always appreciate more firepower."

The Admiral gave a pleased hum, nodding for Mr. Rogers to continue.

Mr. Rogers did, "We have also added a new Virtual Reality Wargames Training Facility for your Marines to train and prepare for combat. Thanks to ONI, each Marine and ODST will be issued their own equipment to interface with the system."

"Enjoy the gift." Oliver's handler chimed in with a smirk.

Another button hit, another section of the ship magnified, this time the middle and lower decks forward of the center point. "The last major upgrade I'd like to directly point out is for the Marines and ODSTs primarily. We've greatly improved the birthing for everyone on board."

A chuckle escaped the Sergeants Major, "So the taxi got a new back seat?"

This earned a raised eyebrow from the three naval officers in the room.

"Essentially, yes. Sailors, Troopers, and Marines alike will now have better facilities. I dare say they even exceed the prior standards set before the war."

It was well known to everyone in the room that due the UNSC had to sacrifice many of their pre-war birthing standards after the initial conflicts of the war. The sad reason behind it was that warships were being destroyed almost faster than they could be made. The result was a dire need to produce ships at a higher rate, but at the cost of sacrificing luxury to reduce build time.

"How much better are we talking?" The Sergeants Major was taking a particular interest in this topic.

"The Vigilant sports a modern on-board gym, comfortable sleeping quarters for officers and senior enlisted, a good-sized galley that can feed about 400 at a time, a proper head with heated showers, and finally a decent recreation center to boost morale. This fails to mention the other individual facilities designated for Officers, Senior Enlisted, and Enlisted respectively."

"You're making my new ship sound like a cruise liner." Admiral Mitchell chimed in. However, I am grateful for the detail and effort that was put into building her.

"This ship became a bit of a passion project for me after you submitted the request Sir."

"I can tell."

Mr. Rogers thought for a moment in reminisce before suddenly snapping back to the conversation. "Oh! I almost forgot to mention. Thanks to the efforts of ONI Section III, your new 'Cruise liner'" Mr. Rogers threw up air quotes with the new title. "will be coming with its own Smart AI." This took everyone in the room by surprise, save for Oliver's handler who just winked.

"This is excellent news!" Exclaimed Admiral Mitchell. "What's the catch?"

"No catch Admiral, an Operation of this importance and scale requires the intelligent digital touch. Section III saw that and began work to acquiring one for you the moment we decided to see this through." Oliver's Handler stated.

Admiral Mitchell didn't really trust that statement, but he had no choice but to do so. "Thank you."

"One last question for you Admiral, who will be assuming command of the UNSC Forever Vigilant?" The question came from Col. McDaniels.

Admiral Mitchel looked to Oliver as he responded. "I am appointing Lieutenant Oliver as Commanding Officer of the Forever Vigilant."

Col. McDaniels looked as though he was about to protest, but the Admiral cut him at the knees.

"He has plenty of background experience in the operations and command of Heavy Cruisers. Having served on a similar Halcyon Class as its Operations Officer for some time before being placed under my direct teachings in preparation of this Op. He has been under my tutelage for 4 months now and will be tested before, and during Sea Trials. I understand your concern Colonel. However, I can assure you he has an excellent performance record."

"Yes, Sir. Although, I ask that I be kept in the loop about his training and performance. These are my Marines that I will be entrusting to compliment his ship."

"Very well. I will have detailed reports sent to you regularly." The Admiral understood the Colonels concern. He would have requested the same if it were he in that position. But Admiral Mitchell had faith in the young Lieutenant. 'Just another report I have to make.' Thought the Admiral to himself.

"Thank you, Sir."

With that out of the way, Admiral Mitchell stood. They had covered everything they needed to cover in the meeting.

Everyone else followed the Admirals lead and rose from their chairs.

"I trust we will be hearing much from you Colonel. Thank you and your men for coming today." The Admiral was happy they had met with the ground forces that would be stationed aboard the Vigilant. Things were moving along smoothly.

"Anytime Admiral. When will we be good to start moving troops and supplies in?"

"The Vigilant will be starting Sea Trials within the next couple of weeks. So, begin preparations and be ready to go in a week. Part of Trials is unit deployment, and we need your men to do it."

"Aye Sir." The Col. mentally kicked himself. 'One week?! They would have to begin preparations immediately! Especially if they wanted to transition to a mobile platform like a Marathon.' The Col. was not looking forward to the week ahead.

With that, everyone began going their separate ways. The Marines quickly leaving the room, Oliver's handler had disappeared completely, and Mr. Rogers leaving to finish construction of the Forever Vigilant.

The three naval officers were once again left to their own devices to continue planning for the coming months.

**LOCATION: UNKNOWN SPACE – CCS CLASS BATTLECRUISER SOVERN TRANQUILITY **

**/JAN-15th-2534 SOL/ 1746 Universal Time/**

Rkar Tuyokee tapped the armrest of his command chair, deep in thought. He stretched his mandibles in what could be seen as a quiet yawn as he listened the report being given by one of his subordinates.

"Ship Master, we are facing minor issues with our jump drive. I am having the Huragok investigate it, however we are uncertain as to when they will complete their task." The Elite Major stated.

"We need this issue resolved at once. We cannot risk failing our duty. The Hierarchs expect our arrival within the month. Take any who are capable and see to it that the Borer is restored."

"As you wish Ship Master." With that, the Major stalked off to accomplish his given duty.

Rkar longed for their return into Covenant space. He was becoming bored of performing the monotonous and menial task of enforcement operations throughout known trade lanes. Rkar knew what he was doing was essential in keeping the Covenant logistics network running unhindered, however he wanted frontline action. Rkar desired to bring honor upon his clan, his ship, and himself. He had been granted the rank of Ship Master by Fleet Master Lytan Nar Dasovee after proving himself many times in open combat. Rkar was proud of where he stood, but he had ambitions to go farther.

His thoughts were interrupted by a beeping coming from the arm of his command chair. Somebody was trying to get in contact with him. Curious, the Ship Master answered the call. "Go ahead."

It was the Major who had just left his bridge after making the report. "Ship Master, the Huragoks just notified me that they have found the issue with our jump drive and are proceeding with repairs. They advise cutting power to our engines as well in the case something goes…"

There was a sudden lurch in the ship, forcing Rkar to brace himself upon his chair.

"Status report, what was that?" Rkar asked his deck crew.

One of the Unngoy were the first to answer. "Ship Master we have created a breach in the slip space, our Borer drive is fully active!"

"WHAT?!" Rkar pressed the talk button on his arm chair. "Major, why has our jump drive activated? We are being sucked into slip space!"

"Myself and the Huragok do not know! There appears to be a power malfunction in the drive, they are working to disable it!"

"Get it done Major!" Rkar cut the link and opened a ship wide announcement. "All hands, prepare for immediate slip space jump." He knew to remain calm in this situation, knowing full well that a panic taking hold of his crew was the last thing he needed. Upon making the announcement, he secured himself to the chair. His bridge crew securing themselves as well.

'May the gods guide us and bless our holy path.' Rkar thought to himself as his ship crept closer to the now open slip space rupture.

The commlink on his chair hummed to life. "Ship Master there is nothing we can do! The drive will not respond!"

"Then brace yourself, for it is up to the gods to decide our fates now." With that, Rkar watched as his ship entered the void.


	9. ONI Mission Prop: Operation BRUTUS

ONI: Section 3:

/INTCOM/: Order: 18-002/ Status Update/

/OCT-26-2533 SOL/

**DOC Classification:**** NOVEMBER BLACK**

**Identifier:**** Operation Brutus PROPOSAL**

**Mission:**** Maintaining and Updating Performance of BRITANIA**

**Brief:**

BRITANIA is developing well, however there is a threat upon the horizon. In order to ensure the safety of BRITANIA, it is heavily recommended that the 9th LEGION stationed within BRITANIA receive new guidance. The LEGATUS is giving the SENATE cause for concern. However, there is hope.

What is being proposed is a deal can be made with the TRIBUNUS, and the SENATE shall oversee the transition. The TRIBUNUS is in a prime position and has proven to be less of a rogue when it comes to the wishes of the SENATE. It is not suggested that the TRIBUNI be considered as the SENATE believes they are exactly where they need to be.

This is a critical time to consider this subject as the PRAETORIAN and the AUXILIA are now situated as part of the 9th LEGION. It is foreseen that the only one who would give any significant issue with this change in power will likely be the PRAEFECTUS. This is a fair warning and should be considered if the SENATE deems action be necessary.

The drawback on Operation Brutus is that nothing can be set into action before our 9th LEGION meets with a SAXON CAMP or EAGLE. It is unfortunate, but the LEGATUS is still too vital to our success within BRITANIA. Perhaps something could be set up.

Conveniently, the SENATE has received word of a SAXON EAGLE that is regularly under watch by SAXON CAMPs. Maybe we can use this.

We shall keep watch as the time comes. But in the meantime, preparations for Operation Brutus should be made.

Remember, this is the fate of ROME we are talking about. It is best if the SENATE can guarantee control over her protectors.

**-END MISSION STATEMENT-**

**/AUTHORS NOTE/**

I hope you all have been enjoying Operation Indianapolis so far! I'll try and keep updating regularly, however Exam prep and Exams have been eating away at my existing buffer. So I'll have to try and rebuild that. Personally, I like to be a few chapters ahead of what I release, that way if something comes up I have that grace period with no interruption.

Now on to the real reason behind this message. Some of you have been asking questions, and it makes me happy that people show interest in the story. The two that are visible to everyone were asked by Vvb and SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta followed by some awesome speculation from Evinco! Thank you each individually.

To respond publicly, the selected Marine Regiment is at full strength. No casualties were caused during the war games, as they were conducted like they would be between today's militaries. The twist, was that ONI used these war games as a way to decide who would partake in Op. Fallen Eagle. This involved 3 Squads of ODSTs from different units. These were the only casualties, and in the eyes of ONI easily replaced. The details besides what is already known about this risky maneuver may or may not come to light down the road as a result of any prying eyes.

As for the designation NOVEMBER BLACK. This is a level of classification used by ONI to designate information that could prove harmful to the UNSC should it all into the wrong hands. Other designations include DECEMBER WHITE and various others. Info can be found by looking up ONI Classification Levels.

Evinco, I like your thinking! And you know as much as I told you. Thank you for your interest, and I hope I can keep it.

I write this comment as an invitation to all! Also, I'd like to play a little game. Anyone interested, give me a name and the name of the colony you'd like your character to be from. This is a Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser. She is crewed by a vast number of individuals and filled with just as many Marines and ODST. I cannot guarantee the survival of your character, nor that they will play a major role. But I can tell you I will do my best to give them a part to play. I need names, and I need locations. Hell, for those that want a RWBY or Covenant character in the story, please feel free. The blood Gods demand sacrifice.

I hope you all stick around! More is to come.

Have an awesome day/night!

V/r,

Lun


	10. Chapter 6 Distant Home and Final Tests

**LOCATION: UNKNOWN SPACE – CCS CLASS BATTLECRUISER SOVERN TRANQUILITY**

**/MAR-12th-2534 SOL/ 1503 Universal Time/**

The hatchway to Rkar Tuyokees personal chambers slid open with a hiss, the Ship Master striding his way inside. To say he was exhausted was an understatement as he had been overseeing the futile repairs to the cursed Borer Jump Drive. His patience with the damned machine was wearing thin, and so was the crews. Rkar began to detach his combat armor from his body-glove in an attempt to find some form of comfort. If his HUD was correct, he had been awake for the past 2 cycles without any sleep and everything was quickly catching up to him. Within that time, he had gathered reports on the standard on goings of the ship, settled multiple disputes between several Unggoy and a few hungry Kig-Yar, and of course oversaw the repair attempts to the jump drive.

Upon taking his armor off and placing it on the display rack, he began to look it over for signs of damage as he had been trained to do all those years ago. His armor was that of a Zealot, but it bore the colors of the Tuyokee clan. The primary being a brilliant white, with a deep and shining gold as the trim. His clan's emblem emblazoned on the breast plate. Rkar took much pride in his armor and his clan. Like most Sangheili he did not know his father, but he did know the clan to which he belonged. They ruled over a province that spanned the plains of Sangheilios and were renowned for their more traditional values of honor and military service. Upon seeing no damage to the plating or scuffing to the polish, he closed the nanolaminate display case with a satisfied click of his mandibles. His first task complete, Rkar turned to one he had been more looking forward to, a proper bath. Unlike most of the quarters on board that shared public, species specific cleaning facilities his was a personal bath that attached to his quarters. Taking off the body glove and placing it in a small maintenance chamber in the wall, he sauntered into the small bathing room and lowered himself into the small pool. The warm water helping sooth the tense feeling he was experiencing both physically and mentally. As the steam gently rose around him, he closed his eyes allowing himself to think more clearly.

He was facing multiple problems that were transpiring on his ship. The jump drive was just another layer to his growing list of problems. The reality was, his Battle Cruiser had only been outfitted with about a years' worth of provisions. This would be fine, had they been able to stick to their normal patrol route as they could refit at a nearby shipyard or even the Holy city of High Charity. But they had now been stuck in slip space for about 3 moons, and this had been after about 8 out of the planned 9 moons of deployment. From their last known location, it would have taken them about a moon to reach the nearest refit facility giving them 2 moons of food and provisions to spare. In short, they were running dangerously low on supplies, and it was beginning to show. Disputes over food were beginning to occur, and Rkar had already dealt with a Unggoy who was stealing rations. His body was now feeding the Kig-Yar. Besides food, many aboard his ship were growing impatient at being stuck in slip space for this long. Normally, he'd put his crew in stasis for the time that they jumped. But considering they had no control over this jump, he had to maintain a monthly rotation in the case they came out and into a situation that required action. Lastly, was the damned Borer drive. Rkar had no words to describe it, no clue as to what happened, and no idea as to go about fixing it. Much of his thoughts about his frustration and distaste for the drive and the situation it had put him and his crew in would have been considered heresy.

Rkar let out a sigh and tried to focus on less stressing matters. He thought of home, and how he missed it. Although he relished in the warrior life, bringing honor to his Covenant and his clan. He also missed the plains of Sangheilios with a burning passion. How he itched to plant his feet upon her fertile soils and walk the gardens of his home.

His home… now there was a thought. Rkar had avoided taking the title of Aristocrat, specifically so he could marry. His wife, she waited for him in the halls of his home oh so far away. He missed her beauty and quick wit. Rkar found peace in the thought, bringing himself to his home as he allowed himself to finally relax. His exhaustion finally hit him full force, and to avoid from falling asleep in the bath, Rkar removed himself from the warm waters and dried off. On his way out of the bath chamber he grabbed and donned a new body glove, making his way for his sleeping pad. He would dream of home and wife in his time off. Getting comfortable, he closed his eyes yet again, finding himself in his garden. His wife awaited him with good conversation and a proper meal.

**LOCATION: SPACE OUTSIDE LUNAR SHIPYARDS – UNSC FOREVER VIGILANT**

**/MAR-21st-2534 SOL/ 1245 Universal Time/**

_"Lieutenant Commander Oliver to the bridge, Lieutenant Commander Oliver to the bridge" The_ ships intercom sounded the request to LTCDR Oliver's chambers, rousing him from a rather comfortable sleep. He was starting to get used to the life of a ship Captain. With a yawn, Oliver got out of bed and began getting dressed in his officers' uniform. The ship board AI's avatar winking into existence atop the holoprojector near his dresser.

"Good morning Captain, I hope you've slept well." Josephine said with a gentle voice.

"I did Josephine, thank you. What's the report?" Oliver looked at the AI as he finished putting on his uniform and strode over to the table where he left his data pad. The AI had a soft forest green color to her. Her features contradicted her personality as her avatar wore a light suit of fierce looking battle armor. To Oliver, he found it slightly odd that she chose to look the way she did when her personality was so kind hearted. Oliver grabbed his data pad and began scrolling through the reports.

"Sea Trials exercises proceeding as scheduled. Our compliment of ODSTs and Marines are currently working on rapid deployment procedures, our engineering department is finalizing critical testing of all on board manufacturing facilities, and our crew is undergoing war games simulations on the bridge and throughout the ship. Todays schedule involves a meeting with Admiral Mitchell on the bridge, an operational brief to the department heads, and the oversight of basic combat drills. Several reports have been forwarded to your data pad, and a number of documents await your signature or approval. Besides that, I'd say your day is looking rather streamline Captain!" Josephine said with a delighted smile.

"Thank you, Josephine, alert the bridge I am on my way."

"Of course, Sir."

With that LTCDR Oliver began his journey the bridge. As he walked, he watched his sailors busily go about their day. All would move aside for him as he passed, allowing their Captain ease of access. Oliver was going to have to get used to this new life. He was already somewhat used to it from his time as a LT, but now he was the most senior positioned Officer on the ship. This was HIS ship. The concept was still something he was trying to fully come to terms with, but he was adjusting well. If anything, he would treat his soldiers and sailors as he always had, with the utmost respect and understanding. He came to an elevator, the doors opening for him. To his surprise, his ONI handler awaited him. The man had changed little since they had met, and he still knew next to nothing about him. But he had proven to be a decent man. The agent still wore his signature slippers, brown trench coat, and round glasses that he pushed back as he greeted Oliver.

"Hello, Captain." The man said with a grin. "I was just coming to get you, the Admiral will be on the line shortly, so we best hurry."

"Thanks, Reub." Oliver had taken to calling the man that after his seemingly endless love for the Reuben sandwich. As Oliver stepped into the elevator beside the Agent, he began to give him more thought. Oliver found it interesting that ONI was keeping Reub on the Vigilant with him. It felt as though he was a shadow that always trailed him. No matter where Oliver was aboard the ship, Reub could be spotted lingering in the background. What exactly was this man's purpose? Oliver's thoughts were interrupted as the elevator doors opened to the level they wanted. Oliver and Reub stepped out and began to head for the bridge. "Anything interesting happen while I was out?" Oliver asked the Agent.

"Nothing of too much interest or concern. Weapons and on-board operational drills went as predicted. No issues, although I do find it interesting to watch everyone go about their business. Particularly the ODSTs, there have been a few that I have taken an interest in as of late. But other than that, I have nothing for ya."

"And what of Section III, did they say how long you're stuck following me around?"

Rueb grinned, "Come now Captain, you know I can't talk about that. Besides, if I didn't know any better, it sounds like you're getting tired of my presence."

Oliver was unable to respond to the Agent as they entered the bridge through its primary hatch. Everyone snapped to attention save for the officers currently operating vital operational systems. "Attention on deck!" Sounded the ships XO, LTCDR Hastrup.

"As you were." Oliver responded. Everyone continued with their previous tasks. Oliver approached LTCDR Hastrup, "How is everything?"

His second in command gave him a tired smirk, "All is well Sir, we are proceeding on schedule. We had a few hiccups while you were out, but they have been taken care of. Details have been sent to your data pad."

"Thanks Chris, after this meeting with the Admiral I want you to go get some rest. I'll take the Con."

"Aye Sir. Now let's go say high to the old man." With that, they walked to the forward of the bridge towards the observation deck where a large holoscreen projected in front of them. Josephine appeared on the holotank directly to the right of the screen.

"Hello gentlemen!" Josephine said with a smile. "The Admiral should be patching through shortly."

Oliver was really taking a liking to Josephine's consistent positivity in his short time working with her. She would definitely help with moral when they finally deployed. Looking around his bridge, Oliver took notice that Reub had wandered off somewhere in the bridge, likely behind one of the 2 display walls on the bridge. Oliver knew he wasn't far; the man never was. Oliver took notice of each of his bridge crew, each man and woman performing one task or another vital to the operation of the Vigilant. From coordinating Marine and ODST forces, to tracking patrol craft, handling communications, or ensuring proper navigation. The bridge was alive with the buzz of war games and each member had a role to play in order to ensure success. A sense of pride welled inside of Oliver as he observed them.

"Patching you to the Admiral now" warned Josephine as the holoscreen changed from navigational information to communication information. Admiral Mitchell appeared on the screen.

"Hello Captain." The Admiral greeted Oliver with a small smirk. "I trust Sea Trials are going smoothly for you seeing the around your ship?"

Oliver greeted his mentor with a nod. "Yes Sir, but I have to admit my Executive Officer and command staff have been the ones to make this work."

"A good officer always puts his trust in his senior enlisted and officer staff. They know the ins and outs of what to do, you're there to lead."

"Yes Sir, thank you." Admiral Mitchell had grown to be somewhat of a father figure to Oliver. Granted, he meant this in the sense that the man was responsible for his upbringing as an officer for the past 9 or so months. He was grateful for the Admirals attentions, even if they were initially forced. Oliver had learned of ONIs tampering with the Admirals original plan and was aware that the only reason the Admiral picked him in the first place was because ONI forced him to give up the Vigilants command chair. The Admiral had been accepting though and brought Oliver under his wing to the best of his ability, and in that time they had grown somewhat close in their professional relationship.

"So, what's the report? I already know how we have been operating as a fleet force, and I have to say I am rather pleased. But I want to know how the fleets newest member is holding."

"The Vigilant has been performing well under the stresses we have been putting her through. I think the crew is ready to give the Covies a few new bruises. Ultimately, our manufacturing departments have been performing well although we've had a few issues with the refining of raw materials. As for troop deployment and readiness, I have to say I am impressed at the organization."

"ONI did say they picked the best, although how they determined that is still in question."

"Sir?"

The Admiral merely winked with his left eye, a signal that they would continue that topic at a later time. Preferably face to face. This was another thing Oliver had picked up from the Admiral, ONI could not be trusted. It was Josephine's turn to speak.

"Admiral Mitchell, I have sent you the full reports regarding the UNSC Forever Vigilant for your review." The AI stated cheerfully.

"Thank you, Josephine. I'll have these reports forwarded to the Security Council; they've been wanting a report. I do hope the Lieutenant Commander is treating you well?"

The AI gave a full smile, "I have no complaints."

"Very well. Oliver, I have sent you a new set of orders. Have the Vigilant ready to go in a few hours. We will be conducting one final fleet exercise before we deploy, and I want you ready."

"Aye Sir, we'll be ready."

"Very well. Take care of yourself. Out." With that, the Admiral disappeared and the holoscreen reverted to its standard navigational information.

Oliver looked to his XO, "You heard the Admiral, we need to be ready in the next several hours. Go get some rest before then and be ready to go on the bridge before fleet exercises."

LTCDR Hastrup nodded. "I stand relieved Sir, you have the Con." With that, the LTCDR turned on his heel and departed from the bridge.

Oliver turned to Josephine, "Please ensure all department heads report for the scheduled brief. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Of course, Captain!" Josephine smiled and disappeared from the holotank.

Oliver turned to look out of the observation deck connected to the bridge. To say the view was beautiful was an understatement. With everything underway, Oliver turned to the rest of the bridge crew. "This is LTCDR Oliver, I have the Con." And with that, Oliver waited for his department heads to arrive.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. Before he knew it, Col. McDaniels, LtCol. Kenneths, and a small number of other officers entered the bridge and made their way to the observation platform. Accompanying them was a LTJG dressed in his engineering duty uniform, "I take it that Lieutenant Commander Thompson was busy?" Oliver questioned the man.

"Yes Sir, he and several others are working on one of the reactors, so he sent me in his stead."

"Very well. Gentlemen, I hope things have been well for you on board?"

Col. McDaniels was the first to reply, "Exercises are running smoothly, the way we have everything set up we should be able to deploy ODSTs and perform a complete recovery within an hours' time. Granted, nothing ever goes to plan, but I am confident in the capabilities of my Marines."

"Awesome to hear!" Oliver was delighted at the information. Col. McDaniels had proven to be an invaluable asset to Oliver during Sea Trials. The man had a knack for the deployment and organization of his Marines that would have had Oliver's head spinning. Granted, he did his best to learn from the Marine, as he knew the information to be just as valuable as the man.

LtCol. Kenneths was the next to speak, "I have narrowed down the best of our ODST forces and determined who will be sent in the initial wave of our Operation." He tapped a few instructions into his data pad before ten personnel cards appeared on the holoscreen. "Gladiator Squad remains the best in the unit, although they've had to bring in some greenhorns to cover for losses they took in a recent mission. Without a doubt, they should be the spearhead for our first smash and grab. War Games are running smoothly on the training deck, as we are having the ODSTs face off against larger forces of Marines for practice against overwhelming forces."

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear things are lining up. What of our supplies and equipment?"

This time, a LTCDR by the name of Lewis came forward. Like LtCol. Kenneths, she typed a few instructions into her data pad and several reports appeared on the Holoscreen. "Our supplies of food, ammunition, equipment, and materials have all been stocked and stowed. Vehicles and aircraft are either chained or undergoing maintenance, and HEV count is at full." She, like the others sounded tired. They had been undergoing Sea Trials for a couple months, running drills and conducting fleet and deployment exercises.

"Thank you, and what of engineering?"

"Most of the kinks have been worked out, she's a new ship so we aren't facing too many problems. However, we are running additional stress tests on the reactors, and conducting routine weapon maintenance. The Vigilant is ready for action Sir." Said the Lieutenant Junior Grade.

"Very well, thank you. You've all done good work and I'm happy to see the progress. Now, I'm having Josephine forward you our new orders. We have a fleet Op coming up in the next several hours and I need everyone at the ready. Have your departments ensure everything is ready and make sure that you each take some time to rest beforehand. I want each of you ready to go no later than 1600 hours. Fleet Operations begin at 1630. Lieutenant, please pass this on to Lieutenant Commander Thompson in engineering."

"Aye Sir!" They all said in unison, and quickly exited the bridge. Col. McDaniels was the last one remaining.

"I have to say Captain; I honestly had my doubts when Admiral Mitchell told me he was putting a rising Lieutenant in this position. But I have to admit, so far, I was wrong. And I want to apologize to you personally." The Colonel looked Oliver in the eyes, his words were genuine, and they meant a lot to Oliver.

"It's alright Colonel, I understand the point of view. Quite honestly, I am still adjusting to the new command. And at the end of the day, it's your men who we are sending planet side in each of our operations. I can understand that I am not as seasoned as Admiral Mitchell, but I want you to know that I take your counsel seriously. You have invaluable experience regarding the tactics we will be utilizing and in leading the men under your command. I know we will be able to accomplish our mission." LTCDR Oliver told the Colonel with all sincerity.

The Colonel gave a grin, I'll go pass on the word to the troops." With that, the Colonel turned on his heel and left the bridge. LTCDR Oliver was finally left to prepare for the coming exercise.

**LOCATION: SPACE OUTSIDE LUNAR SHIPYARDS – UNSC FOREVER VIGILANT**

**/MAR-21st-2534 SOL/ 1320 Universal Time/**

_"Match complete, Gladiator Squad is victorious." _The War Games Bays intercom sounded upon completion of the simulation.

Gunnery Sergeant Bowman disconnected his simulation helmet, removing him from the Virtual Reality Combat Training Simulator Program or VRCTSP (Vric-Tisp) for short. He had to hand it to the UNSC, they had really dumped a load of resources on the Vigilant. He looked down at his own personal Sim Helmet that he now held in his hands. He didn't want to know how much any of this equipment cost the Navy, especially since the Marine Corps could barely even afford to update their weapons systems for the standard Marine from the DMR to the Battle Rifle. Granted, his situation changed when he became an ODST. Under ONI, he was typically given the latest and the greatest when there was need. But this was a whole other level, each Marine and ODST was granted personal simulation training gear to allow them to tap into the VRCTSP whenever they entered the War Games Bay. He wasn't all too familiar with the Navy and how they made their ships, but something screamed at him this was ONIs doing, and that this was not the typical Navy standard.

Bowman looked around at the rest of his squad, all that had remained of it after the mission on Titan were Staff Sergeant Martha, and Corporal Goodman who was recently promoted to the rank of Sergeant upon their return. The rest of his squad was made up of new members to Gladiator Squad. They had received a new Staff Sergeant, named Casey Martell to lead the squads second Fire team. They received two new medics, Corporal Lance Roberto, and Corporal Sara Lithe. Additionally, they received four other troopers, Sergeant John Hamilton, Sergeant Mallory Stryke, Corporal Nicholas Baarlaer, and Corporal Cameron Reeves.

The greenhorns were each transferred from other units, save for Corporals Baarlaer and Reeves who were fresh from the forge. This meant the Squad needed to work on becoming a proper team. That was exactly what they had been working on since their assignment to the Vigilant. Everyone seemed to still hold the same sense of awe at the ships training facility that he did. "Good work Gladiator, I've seen a lot of improvement since we first came together as a unit. But we're still too sloppy."

"I thought we did pretty good Gunny. We completed the mission, suffered few casualties, and wiped out the enemy." Sergeant Stryke pointed out optimistically.

"Not good enough. In these simulations, we know almost everything we are about to face. The reality of the matter is even with all the recon in the world, we still won't know everything about the enemy until we face them. We need to improve our Fire Team coordination, that's on me. However, we also need to work on the close quarters and overwatch. That's critical." Gunnery Sergeant Bowman didn't want to take any chances after the Titan Op. Even after countless hours of training, they were still making little mistakes here and there that would result in a casualty. Looking at each of his troopers, he could tell they were tired. They had been at it since 0100 hours today. Bowman let out a sigh, "Everyone go get some rest, take care of business and be ready to go again in 9 hours. Good job today."

The members of Gladiator filed out of the War Games Bay to find some food and rest for the next 9 hours. Staff Sergeant Martha stopping next to Bowman. "You doing okay? You've been running the team ragged these past couple weeks. I get the long training days, but we've been running combat scenarios upwards of 15 hours or more at a time consistently. The team needs a little break Gunny."

"I know, but we are to be deployed onto Covenant home worlds and strongholds soon. We need to be flawless."

"We aren't Spartans, mistakes will be made. But those mistakes are only going to get worse the harder you push."

Bowman glared at his second in command, "I get that, but we need to be at our best."

"We won't be at our best if we can't think clearly! When's the last time you got a solid night's rest?"

Bowman gave a halfhearted chuckle, but he could see the concern in Martha's eyes. His chuckle turned back to a grim look. "I'll get the rest I need, tell the Squad I'm extending their break an extra hour."

Staff Sergeant Martha gave Bowman an unconvinced look before nodding. "I'll get it done, just make sure you get some rest." Martha left Bowman to his devices.

After watching her leave, Gunnery Sergeant Bowman left the War Games Bay and walked to his quarters where he could stow away his gear. He knew all to well he was putting too much pressure on his newly formed squad. But as far as he believed, he was doing his best to make sure what happened at Titan wouldn't happen again. And if it did, at least he did his best to prepare them. His thoughts lingered on his fallen comrades; this wasn't the first time he lost people. But something felt different about what happened there. They had allegedly been given all the available intel regarding that mission before launch. So why the hell was it that when they landed, they were so out of the loop? The enemy's capabilities, the dead ODSTs, their training, and the hostage. Nothing sat well with him about the whole thing. No matter what he saw, no matter how much he believed ONI had sent them to slaughter their brothers in arms, there was nothing he could do to prove it. Then there was Kirks Fire Team, who had been slaughtered completely while watching his own Fire Teams back. Issue was, who did it? The bodies would suggest additional Insurrectionists in disguise. However, the lack of survivors and the swift brutality that came upon them would suggest someone else. Finally, what of the lack of air support? Titan was UNSC controlled territory within the SOL system, making the idea that there was nothing available very unlikely. Had the UNSC just poorly planned the Op, or was it more likely that something else was going on? Either way, Bowman wanted vengeance.

After he stowed his gear in his Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) locker, he quickly changed into his shower gear and headed to get clean. He needed to find something to take his mind off of this. Not only was it bad for his mentality and his team, it was bad for his well being. ONI was everywhere after all. With a sigh, he started his journey to the showers. Perhaps he would visit the galley afterwards. He allowed himself a small smile. 'Besides', he thought to himself, 'there are some cute cooks there.'

**LOCATION: SPACE OUTSIDE LUNAR SHIPYARDS – UNSC FOREVER VIGILANT**

**/MAR-21st-2534 SOL/ 1600 Universal Time/**

Lieutenant Commander Oliver stood facing the observation deck of Vigilants' bridge, the stars in space dotted beautifully about and a patrol wing of Long Swords flew from beneath. He could see the rest of the 12th Strike Fleet getting into position to begin the final Op of Sea Trial. The majesty of the view imprinted upon his memory; this would be a sight he would never forget. The drill they were to conduct, would be that of an encounter with a Covenant reaction fleet. Should they ever get into the scenario where they had boots on the ground attempting to snatch a high priority target and a Covenant fleet arrive, they had to be able to adapt and react. LTCDR Oliver spoke to Josephine without looking away from his view. "Josephine, sound the announcement of a 30-minute warning until Operation time. Call all involved personnel to general quarters."

Josephine's soft green avatar flashed into existence on the Holotank, "Aye Sir!" She exclaimed with a smile.

_"Attention all hands, Attention all hands. Scheduled Fleet wide combat drill shall commence in 30 minutes. All essential personnel are to report to General Quarters. Once again, all essential personnel are to report to General Quarters. Combat drill begins at 1630 hours."_

"Thank you, Josephine." Oliver said with a confident grin. Let's do our best today and show the Admiral what we can do.

"Sir, all department heads report that they are in position and finalizing preparations for the exercise." Josephine reported.

"Very well." Oliver acknowledged. This was their final test, the last drill before they deployed, and Oliver was more than excited to see his ship in action. Granted, this was a drill so no live armaments would be expended. If anything, this would be the equivalent to one of the UNSCs most expensive games of laser tag. However, the importance of this exercise was unprecedented. Not only for the UNSC to see that the 12th Strike Fleet was ready for action, but to launch Operation Indianapolis, and to show the Admiral that Oliver would not let him down. He would prove worthy of his command, but for now he had to ensure everyone was in their proper position and that his ship was ready.

About 8 minutes before the start of the exercise, Josephine caught Oliver's attention. "The Vigilant is in position Sir, ready to begin exercises. Also, I have the Admiral on comms."

"That's good to hear, patch him through." Oliver responded, eager to get the exercise started.

The Admirals image appeared on the holoscreen along with the faces of every other ship Captain in the 12th Strike Fleet. "Ah, Commander Oliver it's good of you to join us."

Oliver nodded to everyone in the conference in greeting. "Thank you, Sir. The Vigilant is in position and ready to begin."

The Admiral grinned, "Good to hear. Now as each of you may know, this is the final exercise of Sea Trials before we begin our initial deployments against the Covenant. The drill will be simple, and the Vigilant's ship board AI shall be our host. Her specialty being counter Covenant tactics and Strategy, she will be controlling the hostile fleet and acting as the aggressor. The setting of this scenario, ladies and gentlemen is as follows. We have begun snatch and grab operations on a Covenant controlled planet. The UNSC Forever Vigilant currently has forces on the ground, while the rest of our fleet is running security. Our problem is that the Covenant have a fleet that has happened to come out of slip space while we are in the middle of said Operation. Our mission is to protect the Vigilant at all costs while she recalls as much of her forces as possible, drop a NOVA device, and escape. The goal is to buy the Vigilant at least 15 minutes to evacuate her forces, perfect score is 20 minutes. Any questions?"

The first question came from the Captain of Oliver's former ship, the UNSC Hardline. "Admiral, what happens if we can't hold the Covenant back?"

"Then we will be forced to withdraw the Vigilant and drop a NOVA device regardless." The Admiral replied grimly.

"And if the Vigilant is damaged to the point of not being able to escape?"

There was a pause from the Admiral following the question. Oliver dreaded this question; he had known the answer to it since accepting his assignment to take command of the Forever Vigilant. The protocol was written in the data pad he had been handed during his meeting with the Admiral all those months ago. It was a risk that came with the job, and it was a responsibility he had never in his life thought he'd have to bare. Should the Covenant disable the Vigilant, and effectively cut off her escape. He as her Captain had the task of activating all 4 NOVA class warheads and ensuring their detonation. Any UNSC personnel and craft caught in the blast would be vaporized, and all life on the planet below would be extinguished. Granted, the Covenant fleet would likely be heavily damaged, if not completely destroyed. But what weighed heavily upon Oliver, was the fact that he would be single-handedly responsible for the deaths of thousands of UNSC personnel. He was brought out of his thoughts when the Admiral continued.

"Should the Vigilant be disabled and unable to escape, I recommend you make a random jump to slip space and get away from the system. Lieutenant Commander Oliver has been given the authority, and the task to detonate all 4 NOVA devices should his ship become disabled. I am certain he will do his best to give us time to get out, but ultimately that is his standing orders. It is better that we take out a Covenant world and fleet at the cost of our own, than lose the asset that is the Vigilant."

Oliver suddenly felt as though all pressure had been put on him. The whole fleet was now at his mercy, and they now knew it. He cleared his throat, "I will do my best to ensure that you each have as much time as possible to escape should it come to that." Oliver did his best to sound confident, but the reality was, he wasn't all to sure that he'd be able to make the call when the time came. Oliver mentally kicked himself, if the scenario ever did occur, he couldn't hesitate. Having these thoughts certainly weren't helping. His thoughts were interrupted by his former Captains reply.

"Our lives are in your hands boy. A lot of faith has been put in you."

"I understand Sir."

The Admiral cleared his throat, signaling for silence throughout the conference. "Are there any last questions before we start?"

Everyone in the chat remained silent.

"Very well. Josephine, you have the conn."

Josephine's Avatar smiled. "Beginning simulation in 3…2…1…"

A timer appeared on the top right-hand corner of the holoscreen, and the bridges Navigation Officer, ENS Stacey Gibbons piped up in report. "Sir, we have 20 hostile contacts appearing on screen. They are outside our defensive parameter."

"Very well, have our Long Sword fighters maintain a tight defense grid of the Vigilant and her extraction assets. Instruct them to only engage hostiles that break through the line. Let the rest of the fleet focus on keeping them off our backs." Oliver acknowledge and directed his order to his Combat Operations Officer, LT Mark Asher who replied immediately.

"Yes Sir, instructing fighters to maintain a tight defensive parameter and selectively engage hostile craft."

Oliver watched the contact screen that displayed the locations of every ship in the fleet as well as every simulated hostile that they could detect. True to the Nav Officers word, there were 20 hostiles detected. This was definitely a problem considering their fleet only consisted of 13 ships.

The 12th Strike Fleet was designed to be a small fast attack fleet made to hit weaker targets and withdraw. Occasionally, they would assist with escort missions and conduct anti-terrorism operations against the Insurrection. This was before Admiral Mitchell repurposed them to conduct Operation Indianapolis. Their small size, and pre-existing experience with hit and run operations made them the perfect candidate to conduct the Op. The 12th Strike Fleet consisted of 2 Marathon Class Heavy Cruisers, the Fleets Flag Ship the UNSC Wayward Son, and his ship the UNSC Forever Vigilant. There was 1 Halcyon Class Light Cruiser, the UNSC Hardline and Oliver's former ship that he served upon. 5 Halberd Class Destroyers played the primary attack role of the fleet. They were the UNSC Midwinter, the UNSC Thunderstruck, the UNSC Rising Storm, the UNSC Carver, and the UNSC Little Lion Man. Finally, the fleet had 5 Frigates all but 2 differed from each other in class. 2 Paris Class Heavy's by the names of UNSC Can't Touch This, and UNSC State. 1 Strident Class Heavy, 1 Stalwart Class Light, and 1 Charon Class Light by the names, UNSC Citizen Soldier, UNSC Titan, and the UNSC Highway to Hell respectively. These frigates acted as the fleets primary escort and did well to fill the role. In all, their fleet was ill equipped for a direct engagement with the alien juggernaut. While this did well to serve the purpose they needed, it would make this defense extremely difficult. Oliver kept this in mind as he observed the situation on the battlefield. He had no control over any ship but his own, and his only job was to follow his standing orders. Granted, that didn't mean he couldn't lend a hand. Oliver took in the positions of every ship; he had an idea that could help.

"Sir, enemy craft are launching fighters!" Reported the Combat Operations Officer.

"Very well, thank you." Oliver acknowledged as he studied the display in front of him.

"Sir, the Admiral has ordered all parameter ships to open up with coordinated MAC strikes." Josephine reported to Oliver. "That marks 3 confirmed kills." Three of the Covenant craft disappeared from the screen.

An alarm went off as 3 of the UNSC Frigates, the Titan, the State, and the Citizen Soldier, as well as 1 Destroyer, the USNC Carver were eliminated from the simulation.

"Comms, what just happened?" Oliver asked, keeping his cool on the surface.

"The enemy fleet hit us with concentrated plasma projector strikes!" Came the report.

Oliver shot Josephine a look, who only shrugged nonchalantly. Looking at the timer, the countdown read 15:28 remaining of the starting 20 minutes. At this rate, they'd have to pull back and leave allies behind. He looked at who was where. There was a concentration of fighters coming from one craft, and both the Midwinter and the Thunderstruck were struggling to maintain position. Condition reports told him that they were suffering heavy damage, but they had managed to critically weaken the enemies shielding. "Helmsman turn us to face the hostile bearing 2-7-0 degrees that is engaging the Midwinter and Thunderstruck. Josephine, fine tune our aim and prepare the MACs to fire."

"Aye Sir." Both said simultaneously.

The Vigilant immediately responded and the ship turned to port, angling slightly to bring her twin Mark IX Heavy Coil Mass Acceleration Cannons to bare on the enemy. "In position Sir!" Reported the Helmsman.

"MAC ready." Josephine confirmed.

"Fire One!" Oliver ordered. The "round" was sent out to meet her target, striking it only a second after it had been fired. His idea had worked, as the enemy dot on the screen disappeared, and many on the bridge let out a cheer. Oliver was glad he hadn't fired the second MAC, as he would have then needed to wait for the reload time. Although a victory, destroying one Covie ship out of the 17 remaining did little to even the odds. It only prolonged the inevitable. Oliver began looking for other targets when an alert came on his screen.

"Several small craft have breached the outer parameter! They are moving to attack us and intercept our extraction craft!" Reported the Navigation Officer.

"Get our point defense on those things immediately and have Long Swords intercept. We need another target for our MAC." Oliver replied while looking at the timer; 13:45 and counting. 'Shit', Oliver thought to himself.

"Sir, our Long Swords and point defense are holding them at bay however it appears that several bogies are making for our MACs!" Warned the Navigation Officer.

"Come about to 0-3-0 degrees and target the hostile ship engaging the Little Lion Man!" Oliver ordered.

"Aye Sir, coming about to 0-3-0 degrees!"

"Sir the enemy fighters are closing on our MACs." Josephine warned. Just as she finished, two Long Sword fighters buzzed the bridge, crossing over the bow of the ship. "Hostile fighters… eliminated." Josephine looked at Oliver slightly shocked. It was Oliver's turn to shrug.

"Sir, we are in position!" The Helmsman reported.

"Fire Two!" Oliver gave the order, and the hostile ship was eliminated from the match. Two additional hostile ships were eliminated by a second volley of MACs from the fleet. '13 to go.' Thought Oliver to himself.

"Sir, the Rising Storm, the Can't Touch This, and the Thunderstruck have all been eliminated."

LTCDR Oliver grew tense. This was the point where they should be escaping the system with a random jump. "Begin preparing our withdraw, and ready a departing gift." Oliver reluctantly ordered.

"Aye Sir." Replied the Navigation Officer.

"Admiral Mitchell, Sir. I am preparing to withdraw."

"Very good, all ships begin withdraw procedures. Cover the Vigilants retreat and be ready to enter slip space."

All ship Captains acknowledged the order and moved to cover the Vigilants retreat.

"Josephine, set the portal to open between us and the enemy. We will use it as cover."

"Aye Sir, NOVA device ready to deploy." A button appeared on the holoscreen in front of Oliver reading "**End Simulation"**. Oliver let out a sigh as he pressed it. "Simulation Complete, time remaining is 8:32." Josephine reported, happy in her victory.

"We successfully held the enemy off for 12 minutes and 28 seconds." Admiral Mitchell stated; his slight disappointment apparent in his tone. "Josephine, how much of our deployed ground assets would have we recovered?"

"About 62.33% of ground forces would have been recovered and safe aboard the Vigilant. Leaving about 37.66% potentially stranded and caught in the NOVA devices blast. Our ship casualties were high. 46.15% of ships were eliminated during contact while 15.38% of the fleet was unfit to escape the area via slip space. Total losses would come to 8 warships, or about 61.53% of the fleet. While the Covenant would have lost the planet along with their own fleet due to the NOVA blast. Chance of successful recovery of Covenant VIP comes to about 40%." The Admiral stayed quiet as he took in the report. Thinking it over before speaking.

"Very well, everyone have your ships prepare…" The Admiral was interrupted by a report from an individual off screen. Whatever it was had to be important, but the Admiral showed no signs of emotion and simply dismissing the individual when they were done. "A slight change in plans. All ships prepare for official deployment into enemy territory. Looks like we are going to have to leave port early."

"Sir?" Oliver questioned. He could see the questioning looks on the other officers in the chat.

"I have just received word that an ONI stealth prowler has come across an ideal target. They had observed the target planet for some time and have reason to believe that a Covenant VIP is staying there. Exact locations and details will be forwarded to you directly Commander Oliver. Also, while I am at it. I am officially promoting you to the rank of Commander seeing as you have completed your Sea Trials with the Vigilant. Congratulations Commander Oliver!"

There were nods of approval from many of the officers, primarily his former Captain.

The Admiral continued, "Also, I have one last thing for you. ONI has given us one last parting gift before our deployment. The asset will be arriving to your ship within the hour. Details are in the report."

"Thank you, Sir." Oliver made a mental note to give his mentor a more proper thank you when he got the chance. Admiral Mitchell had seen him through since the beginning, and he was forever grateful for the positive effects the man had upon his career.

Admiral Mitchell then addressed all the ship captains in the conference. "Everyone is to prepare their ships for immediate deployment. We cycle out tomorrow at 0800 hours exactly. I know this may feel sudden to all of you, but this is the mission we have been given. I know you will each do your best in the defense of humanity against these Covie bastards. Let's give them hell ladies and gentlemen. In and out, that's all we need to do. Set timers for another brief at 0700 hours tomorrow morning. God speed." With that, the Admiral cut the feed.

CDR Oliver let out a heavy sigh. 'That was a lot to take in.' Was all that ran through his head before someone cleared their throat behind him. Oliver turned to see Reub standing with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. He took one hand out and ran it front to back across the top of his balding head.

"You're making me nervous with close calls like that Commander." He said with a slight grin. "I hope you know I'm stuck on this ship with you, and I'd prefer to retire soon."

Oliver let out his own sadistic grin towards the man, "Aww come now, don't tell me a man of ONI such as yourself is getting cold feet."

"Contrary to popular belief, we are but men and women who fight a different kind of war against the enemy. It may not be seen as conventional to most, but it works, and it gets the job done."

"Conventional is one word to describe it…" Oliver let a little bit of his mistrust for the man and his organization slip into his words. He had to admit; in the time he had known Reub he had come to like the man as a person. Granted, he was beyond quirky as an individual, but he was still a good man. But Oliver still held a fundamental lack of trust for the man's motives and the organization he took orders from.

Reub feigned a hurt expression with much exaggeration. "You insult me Sir, I am but a humble man who desires to protect the people of the UNSC. You and I are a lot alike Oliver, the difference between us is our situation and who we work for. Now, I've come to grab you. Our newest asset should be arriving shortly, and I'd like to introduce you."

"Admiral Mitchell mentioned a new asset was being set by ONI, what are we receiving?"

"Tell me Commander, have you ever met a Spartan in person?"


End file.
